Food Driving

It started as a desire to help The Mobile Lunch Box program in Dakota County. With six of the At Home Apartments’ properties located there, it seemed like a great fit for our residents and staff to help make a difference. Once we learned how great the need was to bring lunches to the kids that were not in school, we created a task force and set a date for a food drive. We wanted to allow our residents and staff the opportunity to donate kid-friendly foods that The Open Door Pantry would distribute through their Mobile Lunch Box bus.

Theresa Stokes, Community Relations Coordinator for The Open Door Pantry, stated, “The Mobile Lunch Box program is one of our innovative programs. We have partnered with ISD 191 and 196 in certain locations and other sites are ours alone. We have used feedback from local police departments and school officials to help us target the “at need” neighborhoods that would benefit from a Mobile Lunch Box visit. Additionally, we are the largest food shelf in Dakota County and our specialty is food. We are open 5 days a week and 2 evenings to get food to those who need it most. The partnership of At Home Apartments in Dakota County with any food drive or fund drive support, would see that resourcing go right back to our communities.”

What started with a few Dakota County properties has now expanded to 13 of our leasing offices in the Twin Cities metro area. While we gather food for The Mobile Lunchbox in Dakota County, in the month of July we will also be collecting non-perishable food items for other area food shelves in the Second Harvest Heartland network. This is an exciting opportunity to make a positive impact in each of our communities.