“The mission of the Joyce Uptown Food Shelf is to distribute food to those in need, with respect and dignity, as an expression of the love of God.”
Food insecurity has ballooned nation-wide in response to social inequity, COVID, inflation, and the discontinuation of COVID-related government support. Locally, the Uptown community and especially our businesses experienced a direct impact from the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent Uprising. JUFS seeks to be a stable and reliable resource for our community.
Since 2019, JUFS has grown exponentially in response to rising demand. Due to generous community support, JUFS was able to rise to the need. The budget has increased 164%, they have hired full-time staff for the first time, and doubled the number of open hours to the community. They have tripled their food output and increased by 150% the number of individuals served.
In 2022, over 120 volunteers volunteered over 4500 hours, equal to two full time staff. Among other tasks, these individuals staff the front desk, assist customers as they shop, help with food recovery, process and shelve food donations, clean, recycle cardboard, and garden! Some of our volunteers are also shoppers, further enriching an environment that is sensitive and responsive to the life circumstances of those JUFS serve. In addition, they count on many longstanding relationships with community partners such as:
Lake Harriet United Methodist Church: Since 2012, when LHUMC took on ownership of our building, the church has been a reliable benefactor and booster. In 2022, the church and its congregants provided over 10% of our operating budget, ran diaper and paper bag drives, and provided administrative support via printing services and use of meeting rooms.
Looking ahead, the Foodshelf will continue to live out their mission to serve with respect and dignity and work towards their strategic goals. One of their strategic goals is to provide high quality and quantities of food to all individuals and families that visit the Foodshelf, food options that they can depend on receiving at each visit.
Finally, JUFS is also focused on the vision of improving their physical space for clients. Currently, Joyce Uptown Foodshelf continues to reside in “Joyce House.” Part of living out their mission of serving with respect and dignity is becoming a fully accessible space as well as becoming a full-choice Foodshelf. A full-choice Foodshelf provides food shelf participants the ability to choose their own food options, as they might at a grocery store. The Joyce Uptown Foodshelf board is committed to improving the physical space and have been exploring options on how best to move forward. JUFS will rely on community partners to support us as they move forward on this goal. Continue to look for updates and ways to engage as they move forward.
To learn more, click here to visit the Joyce Uptown Foodshelf website.
To volunteer at Joyce, click here to visit their Volunteer page.
