Open Arms of Minnesota

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/

06/01/2026

🍄 Mushroom Monday!

Check out this massive cluster of mushrooms generously donated by R&R Cultivation last week!
Our kitchen team made great use of them. Thank you again for this awesome donation! 🌱

05/29/2026

Every Friday, a memory. Every year, an impact. 40 years of Open Arms.

The groups who volunteer with us are the best — and we have no shame in saying it. Whether it’s coworkers or friends, groups bring an energy to our spaces that simply can’t be beat. The joy and camaraderie add to the love that goes into every meal.

Last year we had the privilege of welcoming a group from MinnMax. MinnMax creates videos and podcasts about games, friendship, and self-improvement, and they made a video about their experience at Open Arms. For a fun look at what volunteering as a group is like, check out their video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWTmC4Oe56E

Are you a group that wants to film your awesome experience? We'd love to have you! Just reach out to us and we'll find a spot for you in our kitchens or even at our farms!

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - We'll DM you a Steam code for Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To if you support MinnMax on Patreon before 5/26/25. 200 S...

05/28/2026

🌟 We’re Hiring at Open Arms of Minnesota
We’re growing our team and looking for passionate people to join us in our mission to nourish neighbors facing serious illnesses.

We currently have openings for:
- Director of Volunteer Program & Engagement
- Major Gifts Relationship Officer
- Donor Analytics and CRM Coordinator
- Meal Expediter & Packager (St. Paul Kitchen & Campus)
If you’re mission-driven, detail-oriented, and want to make a real impact in the community, we’d love to hear from you!

👉 View all open positions and apply: https://www.openarmsmn.org/about-us/careers/