Open Arms of Minnesota

06/15/2026

💙 It’s Men’s Health Week — a great time to talk to your doctor about cancer screenings.
The Minnesota Cancer Alliance and American Cancer Society are encouraging men to take that important step.
At Open Arms, we see how nourishing meals support men facing cancer every day. Early detection matters. Take care of yourselves, and know we’re here with meals when you need them.

06/12/2026

Every Friday, a Memory. Every Year, an Impact. 40 Years of Open Arms.

On Saturday, June 12, 2010, Open Arms of Minnesota celebrated the official opening of the Minneapolis Kitchen and Campus with a grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony at the organization's new home at 2500 Bloomington Avenue. The occasion included a picnic for more than 300 attendees, the installation of a time capsule, and a special proclamation by the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. With then-Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak in attendance as the keynote speaker, June 12, 2010, was officially proclaimed "Open Arms of Minnesota Day" by Mayor Rybak and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, honoring Open Arms' growing role in the community.

In 2007, to accommodate dramatic growth in service demand, Open Arms announced an $8.1 million capital campaign to construct a new building and expand programming. Despite the Great Recession, Open Arms successfully completed its campaign and began operating in its new facility in the Phillips neighborhood at the beginning of 2010. The grand opening celebration offered the community its first chance to tour the award-winning building, which featured a state-of-the-art kitchen and more than three times the space of the previous facility on Franklin Avenue. At the time, Open Arms relied on 1,400 volunteers to deliver 350,000 meals to clients living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and ALS.

06/11/2026

History Friday, Special Thursday Edition!

On this day in 2010, Open Arms welcomed Amy Klobuchar to the newly opened Minneapolis Kitchen and Campus for both a tour of the facility and the delivery of a very special meal! In front of a crowd of staff, volunteers, partners, and media, Senator Klobuchar noted in amazement that it had taken Open Arms 19 years to reach the one million meal mark and only five years to hit its next million. "Not all angels fly," she remarked. "You are the angels who have kept Open Arms going through the years. Have a great celebration...you deserve it." Senator Klobuchar capped off the day by delivering the two millionth meal to Mary Pat, a client in South Minneapolis living with esophageal cancer.

06/10/2026

🌱 Huge thanks to the incredible team from Boston Scientific!

A large group of volunteers spent the day at Afton Farm rolling up their sleeves and making a huge impact. They:

-Weeded and started planting a beautiful new pollinator garden
-Built up the beds in the caterpillar tunnels, getting them ready for the next round of planting
-Weeded the brassica and potato beds
-Weeded the potato beds and saved the crop from potato beetles

Your hard work and energy made a real difference in our Open Farms program. Thank you, Boston Scientific and HandsOn Twin Cities(Laura), for your generosity and dedication. Every w**d pulled and bed prepared helps us grow more fresh, nourishing food for our clients. 💚

06/09/2026

06/08/2026

Thanks to everyone who joined us for Give Back Monday at LTD Brewing last week! 🍻
Your support helps power our mission of nourishing our neighbors facing serious illness. Appreciate the great turnout and the LTD Brewing team for hosting.

06/05/2026

🌈 We’ll be at TWIN CITIES PRIDE 2026!

- Saturday, June 27: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
- Sunday, June 28: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

📍 Find us at Booth #89 located off of West 15th Street.

06/05/2026

Every Friday, a Memory. Every Year, an Impact. 40 Years of Open Arms.

Buckle up for a big month of meal milestones in Open Arms history! We'll kick things off nearly four years ago on June 7, 2022 when Open Arms delivered its 10 millionth meal to longtime client, Franco Adamo-Benguerra, at his St. Paul home. The moment was celebrated with both pride and much pomp and circumstance as CEO Leah Hebert Welles was joined by then St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, several volunteers, and press in the delivery.

"Meeting Franco was the highlight of my day. His Open Arms story is inspiring and goes to show just how much care exists in our community. Thank you Open Arms of Minnesota for your work, and congratulations on delivering 10 million meals," remarked Mayor Carter after the delivery.

Franco's story is one that is both unique and one that mirrors many of Open Arms' clients. Still a client today, Franco credits Open Arms with saving his life after he was diagnosed with HIV and skin cancer, lost his spouse, and became severely malnourished due to his inability to eat during treatment and grief. Open Arms' medically-tailored meals helped him regain weight and strength when his doctors feared he only had six months to live. His cancer is now in remission, and he's cooking again while Open Arms continues to supplement his meals on his fixed income.

Open Arms reached the one million meal milestone in June of 2006 after creating meals in kitchens that pale in comparison to today's infrastructure. Today, Open Arms produces nearly 1.5 million meals per year – providing a much needed service for our vulnerable Minnesota neighbors across the state.

Leading up to the delivery of our 10 millionth meal, Open Arms was featured by Kelly Smith of the Star Tribune in an article entitled, "Open Arms to open second site to serve more meals to people with life-threatening illnesses." You can find that article below:

https://www.startribune.com/open-arms-to-open-second-site-to-serve-more-meals-to-people-with-life-threatening-illnesses/600179781/

For another inside look at the occasion, check out the video below. Despite it happening during the pandemic, pay attention to the joy and amount of pride on the faces of everyone involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lOn0b_TtuA

06/02/2026

We’re so grateful to our former team member Mike for donating the beautiful flowers from his wedding last weekend.💐

Yesterday we had the joy of handing them out to our volunteers in Minneapolis! Thank you, Mike!

06/02/2026

The Open Arms of Minnesota team is honored to be among more than 800 leaders from across the country at the inaugural Food Is Medicine Conference (FIMCON) being held June 1-2 in Washington, D.C. FIMCON is a new national conference uniting the Food Is Medicine ecosystem—healthcare professionals, Food Is Medicine practitioners, program participants, researchers, policymakers, community leaders, and funders.

On the opening day of the conference, our CEO, Leah Hebert Welles, had the opportunity to speak on a panel entitled "Tailoring Food Is Medicine to Specialized Populations & Care Models," to highlight our Cultural Meals Program and the importance of culturally familiar menus.

FIMCON is powered by the collective reach and expertise of the American Heart Association's Health Care by Food™ initiative, Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School, Food is Medicine Coalition, Food is Medicine Institute at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, and National Produce Prescription Collaborative — with the generous support of the Dohmen Company Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, RF Catalytic Capital (with support from Builders Vision and The Rockefeller Foundation), and Walmart.org.

https://fimcon.org/