About CCEFS - CCEFS – Food Shelf serving Woodbury & Oakdale

Vision

We envision a community in which everyone has sufficient nutritious food.

Mission

Our unrelenting focus is to provide nutritious food to our neighbors in a respectful manner while engaging our community in the fight against hunger.

Values

We believe that access to nutritious food is a basic human right. We are committed to responding to the needs of our community by providing food distribution and support services with dignity and respect.

Our Work

Christian Cupboard Emergency Food Shelf (CCEFS) was established in 1983, and up until 2018 was hosted at Woodbury Lutheran Church. In 2018 a new building opened on the grounds of Guardian Angels Church. CCEFS is a registered nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation, and all donations to the organization are tax deductible.

CCEFS has made significant strides as an organization in the past several years. A few highlights include:

2017

Doubled the amount of food collected through our food rescue program. Working with area grocers, CCEFS collected and distributed (directly or through partners), 468,000 pounds of food.
Launched the construction of our new, 6,000 square foot facility on the campus of Guardian Angels Church in Oakdale.

2016

Introduced a mobile food shelf program, which is focused specifically on serving the senior population and those with limited mobility. With a grant from Hunger Solutions, CCEFS purchased a delivery truck to be used to support pop-up food shelf sites

2015

Constructed a Strategic Plan for the organization, which introduced a goal to increase service levels to reach 50% of the eligible population, after securing sufficient funds within the following four years.
Piloted a new summer program called School’s Out Market, which provides families with school-aged children with extra breakfast and lunch items on their visits to CCEFS during June, July, and August. School’s Out Market aims to bridge the gap for families whose children typically receive free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch at school.
Began hosting Produce Fairs at Transfiguration Catholic Church in Oakdale, in collaboration with Transfiguration and Second Harvest Heartland.

2014

Launched a food rescue program in collaboration with local businesses.
Received a United Way planning grant, which was used to conduct a community assessment to analyze potential opportunities to reach more people in need of food assistance.
Using data from Hunger Free Minnesota, the 2010 census, and customer surveys, the assessment revealed that only about 1/3rd of eligible individuals in the area received food assistance at CCEFS. In particular, the senior citizen population was most critically underserved.

2013

Implemented a choice model, reinforcing the importance of respect towards clients by allowing them to pick their own groceries rather than receive pre-packaged bags.
Tripled service hours to include Monday afternoons, Thursday evenings, and Friday mornings.
In the year following these changes, the number of clients who visited the food shelf increased by a double-digit percentage.
The Woodbury Area Chamber of Commerce recognized CCEFS as 2013 nonprofit of the year.

In the first year of operation, an average of five households came to CCEFS each week for food assistance. In the year 2017, CCEFS served 7598 families and distributed 316 tons of food and personal care supplies. A dedicated staff of 135 volunteers contributed 12,115 hours of service to the organization. Over the course of the year, CCEFS provided service to 24,100 individuals. Download our 2017 Annual Report & Community Letter here.

CCEFS is fortunate to operate in a community that is so willing to contribute its time, money, and resources to help those in need. It is all thanks to our gracious benefactors and dedicated volunteers that CCEFS is able to make such an impact.

If you are interested in helping CCEFS fight hunger, there are several ways to do so.

Thank you for your generosity!