Every Meal nonprofit announces expansion to feed more Minnesota kids
ROSEVILLE, Minn. — From humble beginnings to a facility bursting at the seams. Child hunger nonprofit Every Meal has just acquired the building it has been renting space in for the last seven years to provide weekend meals to kids and families in need.
"We started ten years ago in a little closet in a basement of a school," Rob Williams, founder and president of Every Meal, said. "We have about 30,000 thousand feet or so and we'll be adding about 25,000 on the other side."
Extreme growth follows extreme need.
"When we were here a little over a year ago, you told me that you had about 70 schools on the waiting list," Williams said. "We now have about 171 schools on the waiting list."
Every week of the school year, Every Meal serves 12,000 students across 450 schools in its weekend meal program.
"There's still a lot of pressure on a lot of families and kids to be able to get that food into their bellies so they can learn and grow," Williams said.
Students in the weekend food program receive food bags with four to five pounds of a variety of shelf-stable fruits, vegetables, proteins, and grains to have enough food for the weekend. Options are tailored to various cultural dietary preferences or situational needs.
The building expansion will allow for a redesign to maximize warehouse space and provide more opportunities for volunteers to help pack and distribute food. Every Meal financed the acquisition of this property through donations, a grant from the state of Minnesota and a short-term bank loan.
"Being able to own the building decreases a lot of cost. There's $140,000 a year of property taxes that we had been paying when we were renting," Williams said.
By being more efficient, Williams hopes a day comes when no hungry child is turned away.
"There's kids and families out there that are needing support for food, and that's why we're here at Every Meal. That's why there's a lot of other organizations doing there part as well," he said.