Blaine Church Turns City Council Gift Into “Hope” For The Community

Blaine Church Turns City Council Gift Into “Hope” For The Community

A North Metro food shelf received an early Valentine’s gift this month.

Each year Blaine takes 10 percent of earnings from charitable gambling in the city and donates a portion back to nonprofits. Hope for the Community food shelf is one of the recipients to get a check in 2025.

The gift is a huge boost for hungry North Metro residents.

“They gave us $11,500 to buy food,” said Hope Church pastor Al Goracke, who was ecstatic to get the money. “Basically the city of Blaine is feeding the city of Blaine for three weeks.”

“This year the city was able to give $192,000 back to area non-profits in the community that serve the Blaine community in a variety of different ways,” said Ben Hayle Blaine Communications Manager.

Hope for the Community food shelf wants to give “hope” to North Metro residents in these challenging times.

“We have three core values,” Goracke said. “Dignity, generosity and hope.”

Hope for the Community has seven locations and is one of the largest food shelves in Minnesota.

“At our Blaine location we’re serving about 1200 families a week,” Goracke said.

At Hope, their way to serve is by feeding residents who for various reasons can’t afford food.

“Hope for the Community is going to use 100 percent of what the city of Blaine gave us to buy food,” Goracke said. “In that three week period of time it’ll be about 40,000 pounds each week. That’s 120,000 pounds and it’ll feed about 5,000 people a week.”

“The need is great”

Every Thursday is food distribution day at Hope. The line of cars waiting for some assistance often snakes out of the parking lot and onto 109th Avenue NE in Blaine.

“Everyone expects that the line and the need will go down, but it hasn’t,” Goracke said. “Actually we’re busier now than we were during Covid. Out of Blaine alone, in a given year, we invest about $9 million of food to people who need help. The need is great.”

Hope gets its food supplies from the Second Harvest Heartland. According to Goracke there are plenty of North Metro residents who are struggling.

“I really think it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better,” Goracke said. “I know there’s different things happening in our country and different movements and that sort of thing. History and the data shows that need is only going to continue.”

“The city council is really excited to be able to support these area non-profits every year,” Hayle said. “They know that there’s a need in the community. They know that the need is not going away.”

Giving back is baked into Goracke’s DNA, but even he can’t believe how much food insecurity exists in the US – the richest nation on the globe.

“It’s shocking that people need help and it just shouldn’t be that way,” Goracke said.

Trying to feed those in need can be daunting. For Goracke and Hope they just want to do their part.

“We’re just glad that we get to partner with the city of Blaine and all the great people who volunteer and give to Hope for the Community,” Goracke said.

In 2024, Hope for the Community served 96,000 families a total of 2.3 million pounds of food.

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SOURCE: CCX MEDIA