“I Can't Say Enough About This Place”: From Food Shelf Shopper to Coordinator

Like so many people following COVID, Jodi found herself in need of food support.

Jodi and her husband operate an eBay store and her husband, a disabled veteran, receives government benefits. But, following the pandemic, the couple had trouble making ends meet.

“I was a [food shelf] client when I first moved to St. Peter a few years ago,” explains Jodi. “Things were tough. It was just after COVID had ended and we lost a ton of benefits that we were getting during COVID.”

St. Peter Area Food Shelf Coordinator Jodi 

Jodi knew about food shelves from using them when her kids were young. She said she always felt kindness and was never judged by the staff and volunteers when she went to pick up food for her family, which is why she felt comfortable reaching out. “It was how we survived. It was how my family ate,” she says. “I wanted to give back, so I started volunteering here.”

When Jodi started as a volunteer at the St. Peter Area Food Shelf, she wasn’t expecting to end up with a job, but that’s exactly what happened. After a staff member left the organization, the board of directors asked Jodi if she’d be willing to help answer phones. As a former call center manager, Jodi gladly took on the role and put in 120 volunteer hours.

The board, seeing her commitment to neighbors, asked her to take on a temporary paid staff position for a couple of months as they were hiring new staff. Impressed by her work, they offered her the role of food shelf coordinator on a permanent basis two months later.

Almost a year later, Jodi is thriving in her staff position and was instrumental in transitioning the food shelf to a SuperShelf. She hopes she can stay with the organization until she retires. “I can't say enough about this place,” Jodi says. “I don't think there's anything more fulfilling than making sure that your neighbors are not just eating, but eating healthy, good food.”