Gather and Grow, Waconia United Food Shelf

"The people who work here, are some of the most amazing people I’ve met. Very kind, and helpful."

"It's a very good food shelf place, it has almost everything we need."

"I’ve been coming out here from Minneapolis for a year and today I came like I normally do but was turned away. I drove 47mins in one direction to come out here for food for my family which includes 3 children and they didn’t tell me until I got to the door that I couldn’t shop. We’re no longer allowed to shop here because we’re from Minneapolis. No one even had the decency to contact us and let us know. Then we weren’t even allowed to shop this time, even after making the trip. Many of the inner city food shelfs only have pantry food items or very limited fresh meat/produce options and for families like mine with many varying health concerns, it’s generally not very helpful to us. Mind you, this all comes after being constantly reminded every time we came in this winter that we’re only allowed to shop once a month because we’re from the city. There’s clearly a reason why some of us are using the last of our money to travel this distance for food. I told my kids I was going to the food shelf today and they know what that means.. So, now what am I supposed to tell them?"

"If your coming from outside Waconia don't bother, they won't serve you anymore. We've been coming here for over a year. Drive 45 min one direction only to find out we are NOT welcome here anymore. They have our contact information but couldn't be bothered to let us know prior to coming all this way. Guess feeding our families doesn't matter. I definitely feel discriminated against"

"Great selection! Staff is courteous and very helpful for any questions you might have. Items are clearly marked for quantities. Whole location if very clean and inviting. I've never been disappointed when going to this food shelf. I've seen some food shelves that are absolutely disgusting. Nice job Waconia Food Shelf!"