Impact and Programs
Accomplishments
FFEN's work with food shelves greatly increased in 2020 and 2021 thanks to expanded partnership opportunities with regional and statewide organization focused on improving food access across Minnesota. FFEN's core service continues to be no-cost consulting services to food shelves across the state, seeking to improve efficiency and effectiveness for food programming. FFEN pairs this consultation with food sourcing analysis reports and equipment improvements to help food shelf leaders navigate a changing hunger relief context. Over the last year, FFEN has positively impacted over 100 food shelves across the state. FFEN also expanded into professional development work, piloting two new educational sessions for food shelf managers and volunteers to better understand the evolving hunger relief context as well as dig deeper into culture change and best practices for their operation.
Current Goals
FFEN's work for this fiscal year will be to continue to refine and expand our no-cost consultation services to food shelves, in partnership with other key organizations. Service expansion will be driven by input from food shelf shoppers (clients) as well as observed gaps/challenges across the system. FFEN will continue to offer our Food Sourcing Analysis (FSA) Report to any food shelf interested in this consultation and will be providing this across two food bank regions as well.
FFEN Essentials, our education programming, will continue to offer the introductory "Welcome to Hunger Relief" session monthly for any new food shelf leaders, volunteers or sector partners. FFEN's more in-depth cohort experience will be offered twice to food shelf leaders seeking to make large-scale changes to operations and organizations.
Lastly, in collaboration with University of MN Extension, FFEN will be implementing the statewide 2022 Food Shelf survey that will gather information from both shoppers (clients) as well as food shelf managers to help inform system improvements and investments all focused on improving food access and customer service in the hunger relief sector.
Community or Constituency Served
FFEN provides services and no-cost consultation to local food shelves in Minnesota communities and regionally.
Geographic Area Served
FFEN primarily serves the state of Minnesota.
