Duluth Co-Op Provides Thanksgiving Meals

Some Duluth residents are enoying Thanksgiving Meals today through the efforts of the Hands of Christ – A Duluth Cooperative Ministry and the generosity of the community. The same is true on other days for needy individuals and families. 

“We service 100 to 175 clients with food a month plus financial help with rent, utilities and urgent medication when funds are available,” said Mary Roberts, Hands of Christ – A Duluth Cooperative Ministry director. “Demand is up, and donations are down,” she said.

“There’s enough food on the shelves to get through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, but when January comes, there won’t be a lot,” she said. “We’re like the farmers,” Roberts said. “We are trying to get stocked up for the winter months.”

The ministry is supported by local churches, merchants and food drives sponsored by civic and community organizations. Bread donated by local merchants is picked up and delivered to the co-op by volunteers. Kroger is currently providing the bread. It serves residents of the 30096 and 30097 ZIPCodes. The co-op has a motto of “A community that cares is a community that shares.”

The amount of donations from churches has dropped because of the downtown in the economy, Roberts said. And while the largest donations of food items come in this time of year because it is the giving season, the total annual volume is down, she said. “We’ve had the lowest food this year in the 11 years since I became director.” The co-op, founded by local churches, opened in 1993. Roberts has been director since 2000.

The co-op is asking for holiday help with donations of $15 and $25 gift cards, especially from Walmart and Kroger because they can be used for gas as well as for groceries and other items, Roberts said. “Many clients who are coming in don’t know if they can make it home [from the co-op] because they don’t have gas in their cars,” she said.

Also, “we definitely need lots of volunteers,” Roberts said. The demand for volunteers will increase when the co-op opens a thrift store in the basement at the beginning of the year, she said. The store will carry gently used clothing, furniture and housewares. Donations of items for the store are welcomed. The thrift store will be called the Hands of Christ Duluth Community Thrift Shop,” she said.

The co-op is located at 3393 Fox St., Building 101. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Call 770-623-9563 for appointments.

provides a “three-course blessing,” Roberts said. “A person who gives a donation is blessed. The person who stops in the co-op for help is blessed, and the funds [that are dispensed] go back into the community, so the community is blessed.”

@font-face { font-family: "Calibri"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }span.style18 { }span.style19 { }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }

Some Duluth residents are having a Thanksgiving Meal today through the efforts of the Hands of Christ – A Duluth Cooperative Ministry and the generosity of the community. The same is true on other days for needy individuals and families. www.duluthco-op.org

“We service 100 to 175 clients with food a month plus financial help with rent, utilities and urgent medication when funds are available,” said Mary Roberts, Hands of Christ – A Duluth Cooperative Ministry director. “Demand is up, and donations are down,” she said.

“There’s enough food on the shelves to get through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, but when January comes, there won’t be a lot,” she said. “We’re like the farmers,” Roberts said. “We are trying to get stocked up for the winter months.”

The ministry is supported by local churches, merchants and food drives sponsored by civic and community organizations. Bread donated by local merchants is picked up and delivered to the co-op by volunteers. Kroger is currently providing the bread. It serves residents of the 30096 and 30097 ZIPCodes. The co-op has a motto of “A community that cares is a community that shares.”

The amount of donations from churches has dropped because of the downtown in the economy, Roberts said. And while the largest donations of food items come in this time of year because it is the giving season, the total annual volume is down, she said. “We’ve had the lowest food this year in the 11 years since I became director.” The co-op, founded by local churches, opened in 1993. Roberts has been director since 2000.

The co-op is asking for holiday help with donations of $15 and $25 gift cards, especially from Walmart and Kroger because they can be used for gas as well as for groceries and other items, Roberts said. “Many clients who are coming in don’t know if they can make it home [from the co-op] because they don’t have gas in their cars,” she said.

Also, “we definitely need lots of volunteers,” Roberts said. The demand for volunteers will increase when the co-op opens a thrift store in the basement at the beginning of the year, she said. The store will carry gently used clothing, furniture and housewares. Donations of items for the store are welcomed. The thrift store will be called the Hands of Christ Duluth Community Thrift Shop,” she said.

The co-op is located at 3393 Fox St., Building 101. Hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Call 770-623-9563 for appointments.

Hands of Christ – A Duluth Cooperative Ministry provides a “three-course blessing,” Roberts said. “A person who gives a donation is blessed. The person who stops in the co-op for help is blessed, and the funds [that are dispensed] go back into the community, so the community is blessed.”