Food Cupboard

Food Cupboard Overview

North Hennepin Community College’s Food Cupboard is a resource available to all NHCC and partnering University students. The NHCC Food Cupboard is open during the Regular Academic Calendar when classes are in session. As a community funded resource, we offer food and other basic items to supplement household needs. We support academic achievement through nourishment.

Currently we offer three programs to fulfill our mission:

Groceries: Visitors can receive weekly groceries based on the makeup of their household size.

Kitchen Coalition Meals: Free heat and eat meals provided to the campus community through an initiative of Second Harvest Heartland. Available throughout the week starting late Tuesday upon arrival on a first come first served basis.

Snacks: We offer three snacks daily to visitors in need between classes.

Annual Registration 

As of May 2022, North Hennepin Community College's Food Cupboard is now a part of The Emergency Food Assistance Program. Part of our participation in this program requires that we undergo an annual registration process for all visitors receiving grocery or snack items from the Food Cupboard.

To register, you can stop by in person to the Food Cupboard to complete a paper form. 

Food Cupboard Video

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Additional Food Resources

We encourage all students seeking food assistance to check their eligibility for SNAP benefits. Students can do so by filling out this SNAP Screening Form.

For further food resources we recommend using this Food Resource Finder from Hunger Solutions Minnesota.

For non-food needs, check out the resources available on the Student Basic Needs Resources page.

Donating

Donations are a vital part of ensuring the success of the food cupboard, and are greatly appreciated. We estimate that for every $1 donated we can distribute over $7 worth of food and groceries to our students. Financial donations allow us to offer fresh proteins, produce, dairy products, and other perishable items.

• Check: Please make checks payable to the "NHCC Foundation" and include "Food Cupboard" in the memo. Send to: NHCC Foundation Office, 7411 85th Avenue North, Brooklyn Park, MN 55445.
• Online: Complete the Foundation online donation form by selecting "Other" and typing in "Food Cupboard."
• In-Person: Drop off donations to the Educational Services Building room 120.

Suggested food items include:

• Household items (toilet paper, kleenex, cleaning supplies, etc)
• Hygiene Products (shampoos, soaps, tooth paste, etc)

Hunger Free Campus 

North Hennepin Community College is a Hunger Free Campus. The Minnesota State Legislature passed the Hunger Free Campus Act in 2019 and it’s an initiative by LeadMN to address food insecurity on community and technical colleges.

To be named a Hunger Free Campus, a college must meet a minimum set of criteria. They must have a food pantry, food bank, or another type of food distribution system for students on campus, have a designated staff member to educate students on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other public services designed to prevent food insecurity, provide emergency assistance funds to students that are insecure in their basic needs, have a task force dedicated to food insecurity and host at least one hunger awareness event a year. North Hennepin Community College meets all these criteria.