SENIOR FOOD RESOURCES
We help thousands of Minnesota seniors each month with free boxes of tasty and healthy, shelf-stable foods, with SNAP enrollment, and more.
GROCERY HELP FOR SENIORS
Stress less about inflation and grocery bills and do more of what you love. Get free grocery help and live your fullest life.
Senior Hunger is Real and Prevalent
We Help Older Minnesotans Access Healthy Food
For many Minnesotans, aging means making difficult choices. Housing, medication or healthy food? Inflation, fixed incomes and rising costs all contribute to seniors needing some help getting food.
That’s why Second Harvest Heartland is here to connect seniors with free groceries to make sure you have the nutrition you need to do what you love.
Free Monthly Food Boxes for Seniors with CSFP
One program that helps us achieve those goals and reduce food insecurity for seniors is the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
The U.S. Department of Agriculture sponsors CSFP across all 50 states. Low-income seniors age 60+ can sign up and receive a free box of healthy, shelf-stable groceries each month.
In 2022, over 10,000 Minnesota seniors received a monthly food box, which helps them channel precious financial resources toward urgent expenses like medicine and utilities instead of groceries. Second Harvest Heartland served a monthly food box to approximately 4,800 of these seniors.
Brooklyn Park Hours
Monday: 9 AM – 1 PM
Tuesday: 9 AM – 4 PM
Wednesday: 9 AM – 4 PM
Thursday: 9 AM – 4 PM
Friday: 9 AM – 1 PM
Handling CSFP Food Distribution and Logistics Across 230 Sites
Second Harvest Heartland plays a vital role in Minnesota’s CSFP program. We:
- Pack and distribute senior food boxes at 230 sites across a 41-county area. Our scale and efficiency at food bank operations and our extensive network of food shelves and agency partners makes this valuable work possible. We even offer CSFP pick up at our Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, headquarters.
- Help eligible older adults understand and apply for CSFP benefits. Our expert team of senior hunger specialists and our dedicated customer service volunteers help seniors and referral partners answer questions, determine program eligibility and even help those in our service area complete their applications. Our outreach spans the entire state of Minnesota.
- Support our community partners with senior hunger resources, education and outreach. Far too many older adults miss out on the food and nutrition benefits they deserve through lack of awareness, fear of stigma or hesitation to accept help. Our ongoing research, advocacy and communications help more organizations and individuals step forward and work to end senior hunger together.
Demand Grows as a Generation Ages
The Impact of Senior Hunger
Baby Boomers, born before 1964 or earlier, are now the fastest-growing users of food shelves. As one of our largest generations ages, the critical need for nutrition, food security and ending senior hunger becomes clear.
For seniors struggling to make ends meet, these scenarios are common:
- Running out of food
- Skipping meals
- Choosing between food and medicine
- Postponing medical care
- Developing poor health outcomes
- Facing higher health care costs
There are very significant immediate, short- and long-term impacts to mental and physical health and well-being when you lack access to enough nutritious food for an active, healthy life. In addition, food insecurity can increase the risks associated with diabetes, obesity, heart disease and many other chronic conditions.
Dedicated Senior Hunger Resources
Meet Our Senior Hunger Team
Ending senior hunger takes a collaborative, coordinated effort. Second Harvest Heartland staffs a full-time team of senior hunger specialists, CSFP site coordinators and logistics experts.
Volunteers support the CSFP program across our 41-county Minnesota service area. These many dedicated individuals at our Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, facility and across our partner network work diligently to:
- Enroll new seniors in the CSFP program
- Source shelf-stable and healthy commodity food that meets USDA requirements
- Pack thousands of individual senior food boxes each month
- Safely and efficiently transport food boxes to our distribution partners
- Staff more than 230 pick-up sites and ensure each participating senior receives their food box
BECOME A CSFP DISTRIBUTION SITE
Serve Hungry Seniors in Your Area
In our service area, senior food shelf visits were up 48 percent in 2022 compared to 2021. If you’re a local food shelf, community organization or hunger relief agency, contact us to become an agency partner in our senior hunger network. Email SHHCareCenter@2harvest.org or fill out the form below.
SENIOR HUNGER
Spotlighting
One in five older adults will experience food insufficiency at some point in their 60s and 70s. See how programs like CSFP, SNAP and local food shelves help seniors in Minnesota overcome hunger.