35% of Minnesota households are facing financial hardship. No one should have to choose between putting food on the table and paying bills. That's why Greater Twin Cities United Way works to ensure people have access to food that is nutritious, culturally relevant and affordable, toward long-term food security.
Meet the partners, volunteers and neighbors working together to feed the Twin Cities today and to build a food system that works for everyone.
Through multiyear partnerships, we provide vital support to meet the nutritional needs of individuals in the nine-county metro. To ensure a strong network of food nonprofits, we provide funding and capacity-building services to partners delivering emergency food services and connections to benefits.
Meet Our Community Partners →Every year, volunteers assemble and donate pantry and spice packs that reflect Afghan, East African, Karen, Latine, Indigenous and Southeast Asian cuisines, so neighbors can cook meals that are familiar and meaningful. In 2025, volunteers and partners made 57,760 culturally specific meals possible.
Volunteer with Flavors of Our Community →Below are responses to some of the inquiries we get most often about our work in food and how to help with food insecurity in the Twin Cities.
Greater Twin Cities United Way unites community partners to ensure all people have access to food that is nutritious, culturally relevant and affordable, toward long-term food security.
You can call 211 or visit 211unitedway.org to learn more about food assistance and other resources in your community. Available 24/7, 211 operators provide confidential information and referrals to statewide resources, including food shelves, emergency food resources and assistance programs.
Flavors of Our Community food packs are distributed by our nonprofit partners throughout the Twin Cities. Each year, we partner with 10+ non-profit partners who distribute the packs at their food shelf locations around the Twin Cities area. You can see the full list of our partners here under the Community Partners tab.
Greater Twin Cities United Way supports people experiencing food insecurity or hunger in Minnesota through our multiyear partnerships, innovation initiatives and community engagement opportunities. We support community partners doing the most impactful work to provide emergency food services and connections to benefits so families can increase their food security. We also connect individuals and families to emergency food services and meal programs via our 211 resource helpline.
Greater Twin Cities United Way primarily serves the nine-county metro, including Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Scott and western Washington counties, though many of our initiatives reach statewide.
Flavors of Our Community is Greater Twin Cities United Way’s annual community-wide initiative to provide local food shelves with culturally specific pantry and spice packs to ensure everyone has access to foods that are meaningful and familiar. Learn more about how you can volunteer at home by purchasing, assembling and donating food packs representing Afghan, East African, Karen, Latine, Indigenous and Southeast Asian food preferences.
The six cultures represented in the Flavors of Our Community packs were determined in collaboration with our food shelf partners as populations most highly impacted by historic and current systemic under resourcing. As the initiative grows, we continue to listen to our partners and reflect the current needs and requests from our neighbors experiencing food insecurity in our pack selection.
Our 211 resource helpline connects individuals and families to food pantries and meal programs, and often to job training, help with bills and other support that removes barriers to food security.
Through multiyear partnerships, we provide funding and technical support to the nonprofits doing the most effective work in emergency food and benefits access, so families can become more food secure.
Volunteers and donors provide the culturally specific foods, flavors and spices that fill food shelf shelves across the Twin Cities, so everyone can cook meals that are meaningful and familiar.
Through Full Lives, we partner with nonprofits, food producers, distributors and entrepreneurs to build a regional food system where every community can reach food that fits their culture and nutrition needs. By investing in community-led partnerships, we address food access today and the root causes of hunger in Minnesota.
We advocate at the state, local and national level for policies that give every Minnesotan equitable access to nourishing food, support our local economy and open doors for food entrepreneurs.
To continue our work in food security, we need the support of changemakers like you. Donate, volunteer or join our advocacy network to help create a hunger-free Minnesota.
With a donation you unite with us as a changemaker, disrupting systems and creating equitable solutions that result in lasting change.
Give your time. Join thousands of volunteers who help meet urgent needs, individually, with friends, or with your workplace.
Use your voice. Help ensure state policies give families the food support they need to thrive.
