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Live United by Erin Haag

We barely moved into our new building when we started getting the phone calls. Truckers sometimes are looking for a way to donate pallets of food. The food is good, within safety guidelines, but might have been a wrong order, a broken pallet, a crooked pallet or a gazillion reasons why. Becoming a central food hub was a huge piece of what we wanted to do here, and it’s already happening. A couple of weeks ago, we got the call for a donation of honey dew melon. We were wondering if we should accept it yet, but we decided it would be a great trial run, practice and we could call the other food shelves to come and get what they could handle. We quickly learned to ask how tall the pallets were. Thanks to the generosity of the other tenants in the building, helpers from the Albert Lea Y and other volunteers, we accepted nine pallets — 8 to 9 feet tall. One of our landlords was a little skeptical that we’d be able to get that much out before it went to rot. He thought we’d be calling the pig farmers.

He’s now learned not to show skepticism to three women with a passion for their work. By golly, we did it. Every single food shelf in the county, some outside of the county, our local long-term care facilities, SEMCAC Senior Dining, the HRA and more. It was an awesome sight to see — our one rule was they had to come and pick it up themselves. So they did. They drove vans and trucks and personal cars and loaded those up, and took them back to their centers and distributed them. All reports say that they were a wonderful treat. So then this week, when we called about bananas — well, we’re hitting our stride now!

Yesterday morning, I spoke at the Daybreakers Kiwanis. We have a deal — I’ll come and speak anytime they invite me, as long as I can bring my children with me since it’s at 7 a.m., before their school/summer camp for the day starts. Sure, they’re all about the kids, so I bring them along. They get a good breakfast, and my son loves to participate in Happy Dollars. He quizzed them on where the money goes and was impressed by the stack of dollars collected so far. There’s so much going on lately that it’s hard for me to even remember who I’ve told what to. It changes by the minute, but this morning was a quick reminder of what questions are out there. So…

When’s the Welcome Pantry open? We’re going to be open from 3 to 6 p.m. Mondays and Thursday, starting on June 26. We will also be open the third Saturday of each month, starting in July from 9 a.m. to noon. We’re pretty anxious about this opening week, because not only do we want to get it right, but we know the demand will be very high. Community members don’t fully understand yet that we’re going to be consistently open, and it’s not a race, a line, a one-shot deal to get their groceries for the month. We anticipate high volumes the first few times, and then it will level off. Crossing our fingers it’s manageable in terms of traffic, people flow, food ordering and more. I’ve had conversations with the American Legion Riders and others about how to handle that.

How often can shoppers come and what are the limits? For now, shoppers can come twice a month. There’s a simple intake process, which can be done ahead of time, and they’re assigned a shopper number.

How about those stairs? Oy. Yes the stairs! The most challenging part of our space. We do have plans with a future neighbor tenant that may be moving in to build a handicapped accessible ramp. There is a possibility of renting a temporary ramp. For now, we’re working on the accessible part — which may or may not be in place by opening date. There is an entrance on the side, but we’ll need extra volunteers and signs to help guide the way. It’s not perfect, it’s not pretty, but it’s a work in progress.

How can I help? If you’re an early bird and reading this early in the day (Saturday), come and join us today from 10 a.m. to noon for our Volunteer Open House. We will give tours, give examples of what shifts are available and help formulate a plan. If you’re more independent and like to build shelves, boy do I have a deal for us.

Long and short of it is: Come over. We’ve got work days set up from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. Really, if you call 507-373-8670 and press Option 5 and leave me a message, it comes right to my email, and I can tell you if I’m in the building or not.

I’ll be here a lot through the weekend, and we’ve got a list that changes quickly! I hope you’ll join us at our Volunteer Open House (10 a.m. to noon today) or our Welcome Reception (10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday) or the Resource Fair (3 to 6 p.m. Thursday). We can’t wait to show you the work in progress!

Erin Haag is the executive director of the United Way of Freeborn County.