Meet the volunteers behind Open Cupboard’s Drive-Up program

On Thursdays and Fridays at Open Cupboard’s Oakdale location, you’ll find a familiar crew outside.

They’re checking shoppers in, loading groceries into trunks and backseats, catching up between cars, and, depending on the season… probably talking about how hot or how cold it is outside.

“We all sit here and complain about how cold it is. We can’t wait till the summer,” volunteer Joe said. “Now it’s summer, we can’t wait till the cold.”

If you spend even one shift with Open Cupboard’s Drive-Up crew, it doesn’t take long to realize that this is a group that genuinely enjoys being together.

Many have volunteered with Open Cupboard for more than a decade. Some joined after retirement. Others heard about us from a spouse, a friend at the YMCA, or a quick internet search for volunteer opportunities. And at least one volunteers to hang out with her Grandma.

How they found their way to Open Cupboard

There’s no single story for how this crew came together.

One volunteer started with Open Cupboard 13 years ago, back when the organization was still located at Woodbury Lutheran Church. Over the years, she’s volunteered inside, helped with programs serving senior buildings, and eventually joined Drive-Up when the program began during COVID.

Pat found Open Cupboard after retiring three years ago and searching online for places to volunteer. Joe’s wife, Andrea, was already volunteering here and convinced him to join her. Andrea eventually started working for Open Cupboard part-time while Joe stayed outdoors. (Andrea still volunteers, too, though.)

“Outside is the place to be,” Joe said.

Ellie was new to the area when she heard about Open Cupboard through people at her local YMCA. Food insecurity was already an issue she cared deeply about, so volunteering at a local food shelf felt like a natural fit.

For Barb, who has volunteered with Open Cupboard for seven years, Drive-Up wasn’t originally the plan at all. She used to volunteer inside doing intake. Then COVID hit, volunteers couldn’t work inside as they had before, and Drive-Up was born. She’s been part of it ever since.

They really, really like being outside

Ask this crew what they like about Drive-Up, and you’ll hear the same answer surprisingly often: being outside.

That includes Minnesota winters.

Bob also volunteers inside at Open Cupboard’s Maplewood location, where he helps sort food. Drive-Up gives him a change of pace (and a chance to spend time outdoors).

Sandie takes it one step further. She turns 70 this year and says Drive-Up keeps her moving. “If the crew can stay out when it’s, you know, 10 below zero, I can be when it’s 10 below,” Sandie said.

On Thursdays and Fridays, she jokes that she gets all her steps in because she’s “running around like a crazy person.” Some days are brutally hot. Others are bitterly cold. Sandie still calls it “the best volunteering gig there can be.”

“It’s so much work, but it’s fun,” she said. “So fun.”

And Sandie isn’t the only member of her family who thinks so.

Come for the volunteering. Stay for the people (and maybe the ice cream).

Sandie’s granddaughter, Annie, is a teenager who started volunteering with Open Cupboard because she needed 10 service hours for school. She’s long since completed those 10 hours, but she keeps coming back anyway.

Why? “’Cause it’s fun,” Annie quipped. And when we asked her favorite thing about volunteering with the Drive-Up crew, she didn’t have to think very hard. “Grandma.”

It turns out volunteering at Open Cupboard is something of a family affair for them. Sandie and her husband both volunteer. Annie volunteers alongside them. And Annie’s mom — and Sandie’s daughter — Alaya, works at Open Cupboard as our Mobile Food Shelf Coordinator.

Three generations of one family have found their own way to be part of the work here. And they’re hardly the only ones who have formed close relationships through volunteering.

Again and again, when we asked Drive-Up volunteers what keeps them coming back, they talked about the people standing next to them. “The teamwork out here is wonderful,” one volunteer said.

Dick, a longtime Open Cupboard volunteer, described the crew as “very cohesive” and full of nice people to work with. Barb has formed friendships not only with other volunteers, but with the shoppers who come through Drive-Up. Some know one another on a first-name basis now.

There are other perks, too. More than one person made sure to mention the ice cream that occasionally makes its way outside.

We’re not saying you should volunteer with Open Cupboard solely for the possibility of free ice cream. But we’re not not saying that, either.

The reason they keep showing up

Behind all the joking, friendships, and Minnesota-weather complaints is something every member of this crew understands: people in our community need food. And they have the ability to help.

Bob spent part of his career as a social worker. For him, volunteering is an opportunity to give back and help people who may not have as much as he does.

Another volunteer put it plainly: times are tough. Groceries aren’t getting cheaper, and there’s no shame in needing a little help.

Some people may feel hesitant to visit a food shelf, he said. But when the resource is there, he hopes they’ll use it. That sense of respect for the people coming through Drive-Up came up repeatedly in our conversations.

One volunteer described Open Cupboard as a place that fills a significant need in the community, but what stood out to him was how that work gets done. Shoppers, he said, are “treated with respect and welcomed warmly.” He hopes people feel that Open Cupboard is a safe place to come when they need some additional help.

Want to join them?

Open Cupboard’s Drive-Up program couldn’t happen without volunteers willing to bundle up in the winter, sweat through the summer, load another trunk, check in another shopper and keep things moving.

But talk to this crew and they’ll tell you pretty quickly: they get something out of it, too.

It gets Dick out of the house on a regular basis. It gives Ellie a way to support an issue she’s cared about for years. It keeps Sandie moving. It gives Annie time with her grandma. And for Barb, volunteering simply “makes my heart happy.”

Sandie may have summed up this crew best:

“You couldn’t get a better bunch of people,” she said. “It’s fun to work with people that love what they’re doing. And everybody here loves what they’re doing.”

And if you’re thinking this all sounds pretty great but you’re still a little nervous about showing up for your first volunteer shift?

Barb has you covered. “Oh, we don’t bite,” she said. “It’s a nice experience. I mean, it makes my heart happy knowing that I’m helping other people.”

Her advice? “Come and try it.”

Interested in volunteering with Open Cupboard? Learn more and find an upcoming shift at opencupboard.org/volunteers.