MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Anoka County Joins HOPE 4 Youth Campaign to Restock Pantry for Young People Experiencing Homelessness

ANOKA, MN (July 11, 2026) Anoka County residents can help provide food, hygiene products, diapers, and other basic necessities to young people experiencing homelessness through a summer donation campaign organized by HOPE 4 Youth.

Anoka County License and Passport Services is participating in the nonprofit organization’s 2026 Pack the Pantry Summer Challenge throughout July. Residents may bring food, hygiene products, monetary contributions, and other approved essentials to any of the county’s five license centers during regular business hours through Friday, July 31.

The participating centers are located in Blaine, Columbia Heights, Coon Rapids, Ham Lake, and Ramsey.

The campaign responds to a need that HOPE 4 Youth says has continued to grow. The Anoka-based organization provides basic-needs assistance, housing support, employment and educational connections, case management, and other services for young people experiencing homelessness and housing instability.

According to HOPE 4 Youth’s 2026 campaign materials, almost every young person who visits its resource center needs food or other essential supplies. The organization is seeking enough community support to collect 500 bags of donated items during each month of the summer.

The campaign continues through August, although Anoka County’s collection at its license centers is scheduled to conclude July 31.

Demand for Basic Necessities Continues to Grow

HOPE 4 Youth reported serving 878 young people in 2025, representing a 35 percent increase from the previous year. The organization says demand has continued to rise in 2026.

The circumstances facing those young people vary. Some are sleeping in vehicles, staying temporarily with friends or relatives, moving between unstable living arrangements, or living in places not intended for permanent habitation. Others may have temporary shelter but lack reliable access to food, transportation, personal-care products, laundry facilities, or the documentation needed to secure employment and housing.

The HOPE 4 Youth Center in Anoka is intended to provide a safe and nonjudgmental place where young people can receive immediate assistance while working toward greater stability. Services available through the organization include hot meals, groceries, clothing, hygiene products, showers, laundry facilities, housing support, and connections to education and employment resources.

Young people using the pantry are generally allowed to select the products that meet their individual needs. HOPE 4 Youth’s campaign materials say each pantry visitor may fill three bags with essential items, making a steady supply of donations necessary throughout the year.

Summer can be an especially important period for community food programs. School meals and other academic-year assistance may become less accessible, while transportation, employment, housing, and household expenses continue. For young people without stable family support, even routine purchases such as bottled water, deodorant, shampoo, diapers, laundry products, or shelf-stable food can compete with transportation and housing costs.

Pack the Pantry is designed to help maintain that supply during the summer months.

What Residents Can Donate

Anoka County is accepting food, hygiene products, cash, and other approved essentials at its license centers.

HOPE 4 Youth maintains a current list of its most urgently needed products. The organization identifies gas gift cards, monetary contributions, and bottled water as items that are consistently needed. Its broader campaign also seeks shelf-stable food, personal-care products, household essentials, and diapers.

Residents should review the organization’s current needs list before purchasing a large quantity of products because pantry needs can change as supplies are received and distributed.

Community organizations, faith communities, neighborhood associations, workplaces, schools, businesses, and families may also organize independent collection drives. HOPE 4 Youth’s campaign provides materials for groups that want to establish donation goals, promote a collection, and deliver the resulting supplies.

The campaign’s monthly goal is not based solely on the number of people entering the resource center. It also reflects the volume of assistance each person may need and the continuing movement of products from the pantry into the hands of young people facing immediate hardship.

Five County Collection Locations

Donations may be delivered to the following Anoka County license centers:

• Blaine License Center
  10995 Club West Parkway NE, Suite 600, Blaine
• Columbia Heights License Center
  Columbia Heights
• Coon Rapids License Center
  455 99th Avenue NW, Suite 100, Coon Rapids
• Ham Lake License Center
  17565 Central Avenue NE, Ham Lake
• Ramsey License Center
  Ramsey

Residents should confirm the address and operating hours of their preferred location before visiting. Anoka County’s license centers generally operate Monday through Friday, with extended Tuesday hours at several locations. They are closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

The county’s License and Passport Services call center can be reached at 763-324-2100 for current location and scheduling information.

Donations may also be arranged directly through HOPE 4 Youth. The organization’s resource and donation center is located at 2665 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 40, in Anoka. Donation appointments are available during designated periods and may be scheduled by contacting the organization.

A Community Response to Youth Homelessness

The partnership gives residents a straightforward way to respond to youth homelessness through public locations they may already visit for licenses, vehicle services, identification cards, or other county business.

The donated products will not resolve the structural causes of homelessness, which can include family conflict, domestic violence, poverty, unemployment, insufficient affordable housing, aging out of foster care, discrimination, untreated health conditions, and other destabilizing circumstances. They can, however, address urgent needs while young people work with service providers toward housing and greater independence.

Reliable access to food and personal-care products can also affect whether a young person is able to attend school, report to work, participate in an interview, maintain personal health, or keep an appointment with a housing provider.

For HOPE 4 Youth, the pantry serves as one point of entry into a broader support system. A young person who initially arrives looking for food or clothing may also receive help obtaining identification, applying for employment, completing an education program, accessing health services, or pursuing stable housing.

The organization is also developing a future HOPE 4 Youth Center at 8565 Central Avenue NE in Blaine. The Building HOPE initiative is intended to expand the organization’s ability to serve people between the ages of 16 and 24 through housing support, employment and educational connections, and health and well-being resources.

For now, maintaining the pantry remains one of the organization’s most immediate summer priorities.

Residents may contribute through Anoka County license centers until July 31 or participate directly in HOPE 4 Youth’s Pack the Pantry Summer Challenge through August.

Additional information, the current needs list, and campaign materials are available through HOPE 4 Youth. County collection information and license-center locations are available through Anoka County.

MinneapoliMedia | Community. Culture. Civic Life.