Food Shelf and Daily Served Meals

While we do not accept donations of perishable food for the meal program, financial donations and donations of nonperishable, not opened, and not expired food are encouraged and greatly appreciated. Items like box meals, cereal, pasta and pasta sauce, canned fruit and fruit cups, canned meats, peanut butter and jelly, condiments, and snacks can be brought to our Community Center building at 20 First Avenue NE, Rochester, MN Monday-Friday between 8am and 4pm when the day center is open.

Food Shelf

We use these donations, and food from our many community partners, to stock the food shelf in our Social Services Center. The food shelf is open on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10am-3:30pm. Community members may visit our food shelf once every 30 days. 

Meal Program

The Salvation Army serves a meal Monday-Friday from 11:30am-12:30pm in our Social Services Center at 115 First Avenue NE, Rochester, MN 55906. Community members should look for the red building one block to the East of North Broadway Avenue. We serve a different meal every day, and all members of our community are welcome to partake. Over the past year and a half, an average of 120 people have received a meal from this program per day. 

We do also serve a holiday meal open to the public on Thanksgiving day and Christmas Eve from 11:30am-12:30pm. 

Bread Pantry

Our bread pantry is located in the front lobby of our Social Services Center. It is stocked with bread and pastries from Hy-Vee Crossroads every Monday-Friday. The goal of this shelf is to ensure that there is food accessible to visitors, even if they come on a non-food shelf day, or at a time before or after we serve our daily meal. The bread pantry is offered first come, first served, and is available Monday-Friday from 8am-4pm during open hours. 

Volunteers

We are always seeking volunteers to help us stock our food shelf, distribute groceries, pick up bread and pastries from Hy-Vee Crossroads on weekday mornings, and to help serve meals, either as a weekly volunteer or as an on-call volunteer. To apply to volunteer for any of these programs, please complete our volunteer application and background check forms, or call 507-288-3663 ext. 3800.