North-Suburban Emergency Assistance Response, Inc. (NEAR Food Shelf) was formed in 1974 through a collaboration of four area churches

St. Raphael (Catholic), St. James (Lutheran), First Lutheran of Crystal, and Faith Lilac Way (Lutheran). These churches recognized the growing social needs of their less fortunate neighbors living in Crystal, New Hope, and Robbinsdale.

Today, the number of supporting churches has grown to 11, including Sacred Heart Catholic, St. James Lutheran, Elim Lutheran, House of Hope Lutheran, King of Grace Lutheran, Peace Lutheran, Brunswick Methodist Church, and Church of the Epiphany Lutheran.

NEAR’s goal is to provide nutritious food to clients each day,

thanks to the support of individual contributions, neighboring organizations, and food rescue partners such as Cub Foods, Hy-Vee, Target, and Aldi’s. Initially, clients called St. Raphael and Elim churches to request food. One member used her garage to store canned goods. Volunteers fielded client requests, shopped for food, and delivered it directly to clients' homes.

By September 1974, NEAR had served 152 clients. By 1978, the growing number of clients prompted NEAR to move operations to the Thorson School. By 1983, NEAR was serving 40 to 50 families per month, distributing approximately 2,000 pounds of food monthly.

In 2009, after relocating storage areas 16 times, NEAR decided to acquire a permanent building for its operations. At that time, NEAR was serving an average of 290 families per month, distributing 23,000 to 24,000 pounds of food monthly.

Cal and Jan Monroe became the ‘Heart and Soul’ of NEAR during this period of growth.

Their passion for the Food Shelf’s mission enabled NEAR to:

• Strengthen relationships with community partners.

• Collaborate with PRISM Food Shelf on programs to benefit those in need.

• Purchase the Orbit Glass building on April 21, 2009.

• Receive approximately $44,000 in time and material contributions from contractors.

• Move into the current building on May 16, 2009. The NEAR building, located at 5209 West Broadway, Crystal, encompasses 9,240 square feet. The space is used for serving clients, sorting, storage, packing, and food inventory.

In 2023, NEAR embarked on a facility improvement program to establish a ‘brand refresh’ and transition to a Shopper’s Choice Model, aimed at improving the experience of clients who come to NEAR.

We are deeply grateful to our staff, volunteers, donors, and partners for their invaluable support in making these projects possible.