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Ruby’s Pantry Coppertop, a food distribution site that operates the third Thursday of every month, will celebrate its 15th anniversary Aug. 21, 4:30 - 6 pm. 

The program is simple: Ruby’s Pantry is for anyone who eats and is looking to extend their monthly grocery budget. There are no income or residency requirements. 

Located at First United Methodist Church (The Coppertop), 230 East Skyline Parkway, it is a part of a larger organization, Ruby’s Pantry. The Coppertop location serves anywhere from 140 to 200 shares per month and is planning a special distribution for the anniversary.

Ruby’s Pantry, a 501 C3 nonprofit, has a rich heritage as a community outreach program. Founded in 2003 and based out of North Branch, Minnesota, each year Ruby’s Pantry serves more than 650,000 people and distributes more than 25 million pounds of food. 

Currently there are 87 Pop-Up Pantry locations held each month across Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. Each Ruby’s Pop-Up Pantry location is hosted by a sponsoring church and is run entirely by volunteers. 

The Coppertop distribution site began to organize the first part of 2010. Barb Hill, a member of the church, assembled a small group of people (many of whom still serve on the local steering committee) to look into establishing a local organization to help assist people who were food insecure or simply wanted to stretch their food dollar. 

Rev. David Bard, the Coppertop’s minister at the time, supported having such a program at First United Methodist. In addition to the Coppertop, the group received support from several other local congregations and individuals in order to purchase supplies and equipment like pallet jacks, carts and a forklift.

Ruby’s Pantry is not government funded and a majority of its operating costs are derived directly from those who participate in the program. Each guest donates $25 per food share. 

Of the $25 donation, $22.50 goes directly to Ruby’s Pantry for operational costs like trucking, gas, warehouse and staffing. 

The remaining $2.50 per share remains in the local community to be used for benevolence and is administered by the local sponsoring church. It is often used for emergency help to support local families who are in need of assistance with utilities, gas cards and personal care items. 

More than 150 companies donate food and household products to Ruby’s Pantry. The variety of products donated is instrumental in providing a balanced, nutritious offering for guests, many of whom attend a Pop-Up Pantry every month. 

Each share consists of several boxes of food and occasionally non-food items, like paper products. The monthly distribution is run in a drive-through manner. Guests are lined up in the parking lot where they pay $25 per share. Inside, volunteers sort and load each food share into a grocery cart, then the carts are brought outside to be loaded into guest’s vehicles. 

At the end of the monthly distribution, some items are sent back to the main Ruby’s Pantry warehouse, but many perishable food items are donated to Union Gospel Mission (UGM). Through the years, Ruby’s Pantry Coppertop has donated thousands of pounds of its remaining food to UGM and other local sites so they can use it for their food programs.

Ruby’s Pantry Coppertop has become an important part of many people’s monthly food budget and has been a recipient of “pay it forward” community and individual generosity. Monetary donations have allowed them to be able to give shares to attendees who may not have $25 or may not have realized that there is a fee. 

Volunteers commented that those who receive blessing boxes are always so grateful. A couple stories were shared that pretty much sum up the reason for doing what they do:

“We have parents, grandparents and grandchildren volunteering together at Ruby’s Pantry Coppertop. Many of our volunteers have been with us for 10 years or more. Once we were interviewed by three middle school students for a school project and at the end of the interview one of the students became very serious and said that her family depended upon Ruby’s Pantry to feed themselves. She said that she wanted to interview us because of that connection.

“On another occasion we had a family arrive late. We were done collecting money and were packing up our remaining food. We told the family that the distribution was over, but we would put together some remaining food for them at no cost. When helping them load the food into their car, there were two small sleeping children in the back seat. The parents relayed that they had driven down from the Iron Range and got delayed when they stopped to help a sick relative. We were so glad that we hadn’t just sent them on their way. It’s stories like these (and there are many) that make us always try to be kind, understanding and generous.“

In addition to the congregations who have been instrumental in helping Ruby’s Pantry Coppertop keep going through the years, several local groups also continue to provide their support. Miner’s Super One has donated grocery carts and boxes through the years, and Whole Foods Co-Op helps supply them with boxes. 

Local service organizations, high schools, UMD and CSS have provided volunteers. But the Coppertop church has been its biggest partner through the years, with the ongoing use of their building and the support from their staff. 

Ruby’s Pantry Coppertop has anywhere from 50 to 70 volunteers every month; many volunteer monthly and some volunteer once a year with a specific group. 

If people are interested in volunteering, they can do so through rubyspantry.org website. 

Individuals can also go to Ruby’s Pantry website and purchase gift certificates for people who may not be able to afford the $25. Checks can be sent to Ruby’s Pantry Coppertop c/o First United Methodist Church and designate gift certificates. 

They’re also forever in need of large boxes to help with distribution.

The volunteers at Ruby’s Pantry Coppertop are hoping even more guests will join them for the special 15th Anniversary celebration on Aug. 21 at the Coppertop Church during the regular distribution times of 4:30-6pm. They’ll be giving out gift cards to Super One and hope to have a “bonus” item included in each share. They also look forward to increasing the number of people who participate in the pantry every month. 

Hopefully the anniversary celebration will bring Ruby’s Pantry Coppertop to the attention of people who want to stretch their grocery dollar.