Keystone is making plans for the Keystone Community Food Center which will help expand food resources in our community.
Opening Doors to Food Security
Your generosity will open doors to food security for your neighbors for years to come!
With your support, Keystone Community Services will open an urgently needed new Community Food Center in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood in 2023. This new site will help more people in our community access food, support, and connection.
As the largest food shelf provider in the East Metro, Keystone has been creative and resourceful in distributing food to people in our community. However, our current physical spaces limit expansion, innovation, and distribution of vital food resources. As the pandemic and its economic impacts have brought difficult times for many neighbors, demand for food and other support has only increased, and Keystone needs more space to respond to community needs.
From Hunger to Hope
As a trusted resource in our community, our new 20,000 square foot building at 1800 University Avenue will offer food, household essentials and crisis services to residents throughout Ramsey County. By opening a new center, we expect to be support over 50,000 neighbors in need with services located at the center.
Help Us Bring More Food to More Tables
Since starting this project, our community has generously given $5.8 million of the $8.5 million needed to open the doors to Keystone’s Community Food Center. With your support, our goal is to operate from this new site by 2023. If you are interested in giving a gift to the new site, please contact Jen Winterfeldt, Director of Development, at jwinterfeldt@keystoneservices.org or give online here or by calling 651-645-0349.
Preliminary design vision for new Community Food Site. Renderings produced by 4RM+ULA Architects
Why a new facility?
This new center will provide us with the opportunity to significantly expand our food and crisis services for people living in our service area. This project is part of our 2020-2024 strategic plan and we have accelerated our timeline to complete this project due to the pandemic and increased need in the community.
The community food center will have many features that will help Keystone increase efficiency and serve more people, including:
A much larger shopping area for participants to select foods that meet their household’s needs
Increased capacity to receive and warehouse food
Large volunteer spaces to tap the enthusiasm of corporate and community groups
Spaces for staff to meet residents privately to discuss crisis assistance and make connections to other resources
Why is Keystone creating a new Community Food Center?
Put simply, we need more space to provide more services to a larger number of people in need. The new 20,000-square-foot site will support an increasing number of people turning to us for food and crisis support.
More people are turning to Keystone for food support. Groceries, gasoline, and other essentials are becoming more expensive and for many of our neighbors affording basic grocery items stretches their budgets beyond their limits. We are anticipating the need in the community will continue to increase in 2022 and 2023 as the economic impact of the pandemic is disproportionately impacting low-income people and it will take them longer to recover lost wages and overall household income. Our new site will give us the space to meet increased needs.
What will happen to Keystone’s other locations?
The administrative headquarters and senior programming will remain at the Merriam Park Community Center on St. Anthony Avenue.
We will continue to operate our senior and youth programs at the West 7th Community Center; we will continue youth programs at our Keystone Best Buy Teen Tech Center and at the McDonough Community Center.
Express Bike Shop remains open. We refreshed the interior and exterior of the bike shop in 2020 — stop by to buy or donate a bike!
What is the timeline for this project?
Our goal is to be operating out of this new site in 2023 contingent on Keystone securing funding from our community for building renovations and operating costs.
Are you accepting donations for this project? How much does it cost?
Thank you for your interest! Yes, we are accepting donations to support the project. If you are interested in supporting our new community food site, please contact Jen Winterfeldt at jwinterfeldt@keystoneservices.org or 651-603-6650. We would be happy to provide more information about the cost of the project and the ways you can participate. Keystone gratefully accepts cash gifts, stock transfers, qualified charitable contributions from your IRA, and donor-advised fund contributions.
I live near the new building in the Midway neighborhood and I want to know more about this project. How can I get more info?
We are committed to keeping community members informed about the project and aim to have little to no disruption in the neighborhood. We are hosting a number of community convenings to discuss the project so if you would like more information please contact us at info@keystoneservices.org or 651-645-0349 to learn more.
When Keystone moves to the new site, will there be a period when services stop?
No! There will be no interruption to any of Keystone’s services. Participants will be notified well in advance about the date in which they should access services at the new site.
