For more than four decades, Loaves & Fishes has worked to make sure Minnesotans have access to a healthy meal. Our community meal sites remain at the heart of that work. They’re places where people can sit down, enjoy a meal and feel part of a community. That hasn’t changed. But how we deliver on that promise has.
Today, we also rescue food, distribute it directly into communities and make it available to smaller nonprofits through our HUB program, where partners select from what we have on hand. Together, these programs account for millions of meal equivalents each year. They reach people in different ways, but each comes with its own demands on staff, transportation, storage and equipment.
At St. Matthew’s, our busiest meal site, we’ve served roughly 7,500 meals in a month. On a busy night, hundreds of guests may arrive, even when a few volunteers don’t. The protein we planned to serve might not be available. A dishwasher might break. At another site, the kitchen is smaller or the drive from our North Minneapolis warehouse is longer. The team adjusts because dinner still needs to happen.
The problems aren’t confined to the kitchen. We had catalytic converters stolen from our vehicles in back-to-back months. A refrigerated van out of service can also mean losing the ability to safely pick up perishable donations until we find another solution. Repairs take money, but they also take time and capacity away from the work those vehicles are meant to do.
Food supply presents another challenge. Much of what we serve and distribute comes from rescued food, which is valuable but not predictable. Our HUB partners might find different ingredients from one week to the next. Businesses are also working to reduce waste and manage inventory more tightly. That’s sensible, but it means we have to keep looking for food in new places, from sporting events to hotels and corporate campuses. We can’t build tomorrow’s operation on the assumption that the same surplus will always be there.
The scale matters. Our North Minneapolis warehouse supports community distribution as well as our meal sites and partner organizations. As demand and volume change, so do the requirements for refrigeration, transportation and space. A donation is only useful if we can receive it safely and get it where it needs to go.
Our team makes magic happen every day. Volunteers are the muscle behind so much of it, and our partners make the work possible. Most of this is invisible to the people we serve. A guest shouldn’t have to wonder whether the truck started that morning or whether enough volunteers showed up. They should be able to count on a good meal and a welcoming place.
But I do want the people who support this work to understand what happens behind the scenes.
Not because we’re asking anyone to fix everything. The system will never be perfect. But there are real problems that businesses and individuals could help us solve. A logistics company might help improve a route or find transportation capacity. A refrigeration partner might help keep essential equipment running. A technology partner could help us use data and automation to better anticipate demand, coordinate food rescue and make more efficient use of our resources. And unrestricted financial support gives us the flexibility to invest where it’s needed most, including the challenges we can’t anticipate.
The useful question isn’t simply, “What can we donate?” It’s “What does this organization need, and where could we help make it stronger?”
Before joining Loaves & Fishes, I spent about 15 years helping grow consumer technology startups, including 11 years at Anova Culinary, making kitchen devices that help home cooks achieve professional-quality results. As a sales executive, much of my work revolved around opening new channels, building partnerships and preparing for major retail moments like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
This year, instead of preparing for the holiday sales rush, I’m getting ready for Give to the Max Day and the giving season. It’s a very different kind of fourth quarter, but I’ve found myself asking some familiar questions: Who should we be talking to? Where are the opportunities we’re missing? And how do we build partnerships that go beyond a single transaction?
A successful giving day can make a real difference, and we’re certainly working toward that. But I’m also thinking about what comes next. How do we turn the generosity of this season into relationships and partnerships that make organizations like ours stronger for the long haul?
As giving season approaches, I hope more of us will look beyond the most visible outcomes and consider what makes them possible. Meals served and pounds rescued matter. So do the people, equipment and systems that let us deliver them reliably.
Everyone deserves a healthy meal. If we’re going to keep that promise, we need organizations built not just to respond today, but to keep showing up as the needs of our communities change.
Michael Tankenoff is executive director of Loaves & Fishes, a Minnesota nonprofit focused on hunger relief and food rescue. He previously spent 15 years helping grow consumer technology startups, including leading global sales at Anova Culinary, before transitioning to nonprofit leadership in 2026.
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