Anoka County Sheriff’s Office Joins Bag Hunger 2025 Campaign to Support Families in Need

The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) recently joined community partners in supporting Bag Hunger 2025, a regional fundraising and food-collection initiative aimed at addressing rising food insecurity during the holiday season. The effort, hosted locally at Festival Foods in Andover and benefiting the ACBC Food Shelf, brings together civic leaders, grocery partners, and volunteers to help ensure families across Anoka County have access to essential groceries during a time of heightened need.

ACSO staff volunteered on-site at Festival Foods, greeting shoppers, collecting donations, and helping promote the goals of the campaign. Others assisted behind the scenes with sorting, organizing, and preparing food items for distribution at ACBC. The Sheriff’s Office described the collaboration as an opportunity to give back to residents and strengthen community ties at a moment when many households are facing increased economic pressure.

A Statewide Effort With Local Impact

The Bag Hunger campaign is part of a broader effort involving Minnesota grocers, vendors, and community groups to raise both nonperishable food and financial contributions for local food shelves. Participating Festival Foods locations offer pre-assembled donation bags, registers where shoppers can contribute directly, and drop-off points for individual items.

At the Andover store, Bag Hunger proceeds directly support the ACBC Food Shelf (Anoka County Brotherhood Council), one of the largest and longest-standing nonprofit food shelves in the region. For ACBC, these holiday-season drives play a critical role in meeting surging need as grocery prices remain high and more families seek assistance.

ACBC Food Shelf: Meeting Record Demand

Founded in 1971 and based in Anoka, ACBC provides year-round food and essential goods to thousands of residents across Anoka County. It operates a client-choice Food Shelf Market, allowing shoppers to select groceries in a dignified, store-like setting; a Grocery Delivery Program for homebound individuals; a Weekly Program supporting people experiencing homelessness; and a Thrift Store whose proceeds help fund operations.

In recent years, ACBC and other regional food shelves have reported record demand as households face rising housing costs, food inflation, and other economic challenges. Community partnerships—like those with Festival Foods and ACSO—are critical in sustaining operations, filling shelves, and ensuring that ACBC can continue serving families, seniors, and individuals who rely on its programs.

Festival Foods: A Longtime Community Partner

Festival Foods, a locally operated grocery chain with deep roots in Minnesota communities, frequently collaborates with food shelves and civic organizations on donation drives, fundraising efforts, and public-awareness campaigns. For Bag Hunger 2025, the Andover store provided space for collection tables, promoted the campaign throughout the store, and offered customers the option to purchase pre-packaged bags of high-need items selected by ACBC.

A Community-Wide Response to Holiday Hunger

The collaboration between the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office, Festival Foods, and ACBC Food Shelf underscores a countywide commitment to supporting neighbors facing food insecurity. Volunteers, donors, and local organizations together help ensure that families have access to nutritious food during the holidays—a period when food budgets are often stretched the most.

Residents interested in contributing can donate nonperishable items, purchase a Bag Hunger donation bag at participating Festival Foods locations, or give directly to ACBC Food Shelf throughout the year.

MinneapoliMedia