Bethlehem Foundation visits CES
Bethlehem Lutheran Church Twin Cities and the Bethlehem Foundation have been proud supporters of Community Emergency Service (CES) in Minneapolis and ICA in Minnetonka. But it’s a tough time to run a food shelf. In 2024, a record 8.9 million people visited food shelves in Minnesota, and 2025 is trending much worse. CES, based in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis, is bringing innovations to its work that make it faster and easier for people to access its services. That leaves more time for school, jobs, and family.
Several Bethlehem Foundation board members visited President Jamie Dolynchuck and his team at CES this summer to learn more about the remarkable work happening there. The food shelf serves an average of over 400 people per day. That’s a dramatic increase from the 120 people who visited just last year. “We are ground zero for where the poorest people live,” Jamie says. “And when the benefits are removed, the first people to feel the pain of that are actually people here.”
The organization uses a “rescue food” model, collecting food at no cost from grocery stores and markets and reducing its food costs to $.23 per pound compared to a statewide average of $1.41.
After witnessing lines around the block of people waiting for CES to open – sometimes for hours, with tents and sleeping bags, and sometimes including children who would otherwise be in school – the organization also introduced an app that lets patrons make an appointment to pick up their food. This virtually eliminates wait times while guaranteeing everyone with an appointment their full food share. “Our mission is to help people up and to provide the resource of food to give them that leg up, not to make them wait for five, ten, fifteen hours a week if they come a little too late,” Jamie says. The company behind the OpenTable app agreed to set it up for them.
Yet for some people, getting to CES during its regular open hours, even with an appointment, can still be hard. That’s why the organization introduced secure, refrigerated lockers outside the building. People can pick up groceries after hours simply by entering a code provided to their phone. The Bethlehem Foundation provided a $15,000 grant this year in support of the food locker initiative.
For more information or to contribute to our food shelf partners directly, visit the websites of CES and ICA.