Everyone is welcome! There are no income guidelines for our food pantry, and we will never ask why someone is visiting us. To receive financial assistance from our Social Services Department, participants will be required to share legal documents to determine if they qualify for assistance.

For our Food Pantry, visitors are welcome once a month. During their visit, they will get shelf-stable items (like pasta, cereals, canned goods, etc.) as well as meat, dairy, vegetables, fruit, and bread. We also have household items like shampoo, toilet paper, diapers, pet food, and more. If they have dietary restrictions, we will try to make every effort to meet their needs. Our inventory is always changing at VEAP, so we cannot promise access to specific items, but we will always try our best to meet their needs.

VEAP’s Mobile Food Pantry is open to everyone! With several convenient sites throughout the Twin Cities, we encourage individuals and families to visit as often as needed. We encourage participants to use our event calendar for current distribution sites and times. Everyone is welcome.

VEAP does require that all visitors call us to first make an appointment; however, if there is an emergency, we can provide a pre-packaged bag of food, an Express Pack, at Door 4 anytime during business hours. Prior to the appointment, our phone volunteers will ask some brief questions to make sure their household record is up to date in our database. We do not share this information with anyone, and participants have the option to opt out.

On in-pantry shopping days, which are Monday-Thursday, we ask that participants park in the parking lot and walk around to the front of the building to Door 1. A volunteer will check them in and then guide them through the pantry to help find the items they need most, answer questions, and ensure a pleasant experience for all shoppers. Once they’re done, they’ll pull their car around to the back of our building at Door 4, and we will load all of the items into their car.

On Fridays from 9 a.m. – noon, we distribute shelf-stable food and produce via our drive-up.

VEAP is a direct service agency that operates a food pantry. Food pantries such as VEAP can purchase food at a deeply discounted rate from food banks, which is then delivered to VEAP. In other words, VEAP provides food access for people, and food banks provide food access to food pantries.

No. While Hennepin County’s South Suburban Hub is located at VEAP, we do not share personal information nor access case information without written permission.

Yes! We welcome everyone from our community who needs access to use our services. Many of the visitors who use our Food Pantry and Social Services programming are from diverse ethnic, racial and linguistic backgrounds. We make every effort to meet the language needs of our visitors and have staff and volunteers fluent in Spanish, Somali, Russian, Mandarin and other languages. Undocumented individuals are welcome to use all our services. Wherever you are from, you are welcome and belong at VEAP.