Stephanie Lehman, a brunette woman in a red shirt, stands in front of shelves of food

ACBC Makes Neighbors Feel Welcome at Their Food Shelf

by Samantha Solberg
Jul 11, 2025

For Stephanie Lehman, being executive director of ACBC Food Shelf is personal. 

“I was raised by a single mom, and I became a single mom,” she says. “I know what it's like to not have enough to eat or to open the fridge and there's nothing there. I understand that.” 

ACBC was started in 1971 by a group of women who were inspired to create a place where people could access food and clothing and build relationships with neighbors. “We have continued to do that,” explains Stephanie. “Now we offer resource navigation as well, along with programs really designed around health, nutrition, and community.” 

ED Stephanie Lehman, a brunette woman in a red shirt, stands in front of produce in the food shelf, smiling at the camera

ACBC Food Shelf Executive Director Stephanie Lehman

2020 was a turning point for the organization. In 2019, ACBC had 8,700 food shelf visits. In 2024, they had over 23,000. The rapid growth has led to a lot of changes at ACBC. “Everything we do is with the mindset of building capacity,” says Stephanie. “Every operational change, every time we bring in a new partner or a new store, every time we add appointments, we're continuously looking at how to help more families, while still providing a really great experience... We’re really trying to be more of what the community needs us to be.” 

One way the food shelf has responded to the community is by expanding their selection of culturally connected foods and hiring bilingual staff members, who speak Spanish, Russian, and Ukrainian. “We know the ability to communicate one-on-one is important to people,” says Stephanie of having staff that speak those languages. “People want to go to a place where they feel they're welcome, they feel they're a part of the community, and they feel like they can get what they need for their family. As a result, our participants are often willing to drive a longer distance to shop at ACBC.” 

The Second Harvest Heartland partner organization is the oldest and largest food shelf in Anoka County. Aside from regular food shelf hours, ACBC does produce distributions twice a month because they see that access to fresh produce is valuable to all members of their community. “When we do [produce distributions], we see everybody here,” Stephanie says. “All are welcome.” 

With the growth ACBC has seen over the past few years, Stephanie says the support of Second Harvest Heartland has helped them stay a reliable source of food for neighbors. “Our families are already in some sort of situation that is bringing them here, but we can always provide them this consistent service,” she says. “They have consistent access to healthy food and that's really important to all of us.”