order. Clerk, please do a roll call. Council member Walsh, >> here. >> Council member Gerola, >> here. >> Council member West >> here. >> Council member Angstran >> here. >> Mary McCloskkey >> here. >> And council member Edberg is excused. All right. Please join me for the pledge of allegiance. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, welcome everyone that's here and people on the TV. Um, we're going to get started with uh item 2 a, approval of the regular city council meeting on July 14th, 2026. Do I have a motion to approve that? >> Do we have a motion? >> So move. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed? All right, the motion passes. Um item 2B, the minutes of the city council work session on July 14th, 2026. Is there a motion? >> So moved. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Okay, the motion passes. Item three, adopt the agenda. I'd accept a motion to Is there any changes to the agenda first? Anyone? I'd accept a motion to adopt the agenda. So moved. Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? We have an agenda. All right. Number four. Uh item four, consent agenda. Uh does anybody have any changes or questions to the consent agenda? I'd accept a motion to accept the consent agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Okay, the consent agenda passes. Item five, A, uh, visitors and presentations. We have a visitor from the White Bear Area Food Shelf to give us an update. Uh, the executive director, Perry Peterson. Welcome, Mr. Peterson. Thank you for being here today. >> Well, thank you for the opportunity. I really appreciate it. Um and uh yeah, I think I was able to come in um early on in my tenure. So, it was great to be be back and really appreciate the opportunity. And uh before I start, just thank you so much uh to the city of White Bear Lake and the amazing support that we get um to be able to do what we do. Um, a lot of what I say to people is we're only really uh able to do what we do because of the generosity of our community and that starts here. So, thank you so much. Well, I do have a few slides and I'm going to try my best to Am I going the wrong way? >> No, you're good. >> Okay, there we are. All right. Um, and I thought I'd start off with a just a quick about me. Um, if you didn't know me, I grew up in Iowa and um, married um, have three boys. They're a little bit older now. Um, not as cute as they were back then. Um, but and uh, love enjoy games, travel, and I am a big Denver Broncos fan. So, go Broncos. Um, my Oh, boy. Hopefully not a Raiders fan over there. Um but my my first 20 years um I worked for a faith community uh leading service work uh with students and also overseas. Um picture there of me and um out in Haiti um led 10 trips there. Um I because of that um I had two years that I was on the board because I was coordinating volunteers uh to the board at uh the food shelf and then became the executive director in 2019. So I've been there for about seven years and the food shelf has actually been around. We're coming up on 50 years next year. Um started in 1977 and um bopped around a couple of different places. um at St. Pius, the fire station, a couple different places, and then landed um where it is on Whitaker Street um back around 2000. So, um but I'm here today to talk a little bit about what we are experiencing and hunger um in our community and what the food shelf's perspective of that has been. So the just the general statistics um that are shared from the food group was about one in five uh Minnesota households struggle to afford food. Um they have a little bit of a scale on that of like what it looks like um of not knowing where uh the food is coming from from severe food insecurity and that but it really boils down to about 20% of the population um struggles with food insecurity and then uh a lot of times that's families that are trying to figure it out. young families. So, one in three families with children experience that. They've seen a a spike um in visits to food shelves, nearly 9 million visits um uh last year. Um and uh that's two years in a row that have been at kind of a close to that approximization in the state of Minnesota. Um why is that? There's a variety of reasons. three that I could kind of boil it down to. Um rising housing costs, uh food costs going up, and some reductions in SNAP. Um and we'll um we've seen some of that already. Um SNAP is a traditional food stamp program. Um we've seen that already and we've seen that with some other uh federal funding. Um but we will significantly see that in 2027 is what I'm told. I'm no expert in uh that, but that's what um some of the bigger uh agencies are sharing with us. Um yeah, feel free to interrupt anytime, but I'll I'll try to uh keep it quick. Um these are the visits that we've seen at the food shelf um in my tenure um since 2019. Um last year we had 78,000 visitors between our all of our programs. Um which is nearly tripled in 5 years ago. Um we did make the switch um in the beginning of COVID to be open to anyone and as often as needed. Um and that's a been a growing trend within our industry. It's not just the White Berry area food shelf. uh realizing that um the reason behind that and re a reason behind the increase in numbers really is about the model changing. Um we used to be uh 30 appointments once a month or one and a person could come once a month and um they would get food typically back in 2019 uh for about a week, week and a half and then kind of need to figure it out from there. Um but our model really changed to be more focused in on healthy food and uh fresh food and a lot of that um turns over pretty quickly. And so these visits are different in a model and our model is different than somebody just coming in and kind of getting um a lot of food at one time that's going to be kind of more the shelf stable and now is uh um fresh stuff and also kind of things that we're um we're gathering from other places. I'll get into that shortly. Um, one of the other things this past year, um, I wanted to make note of that we have just been tracking has been, um, the impact of recent occurrences, um, within, um, uh, the United States and also within Minnesota. We saw a substantial spike in visits. We had seen a kind of a steady growth in visits um, over the last couple years. Um but in October um when the government shutdown came out um and also then the news of SNAP being discontinued in November, we saw a huge spike in visits um nearly 8,000 um visits that month. And then um as Operation Metro Surge happened, we saw a significant um decrease um in visits. So, um it really um it was an interesting time uh from going from our highest point of having 212 visitors at a curbside market um to having uh a real uh significant switch in that. Um, we were able to, one of the things I'd make point of is that we were able to really, um, hear from our partners, um, locally, other organizations, and what they were seeing on the ground and quickly adapt to that. And so, we actually, um, started new programs during that time. So it's even more significant that those months we started doing more opportunities to get food out and we had less um people utilizing those services. Um the reasons I think are well known. A lot of uh people felt fearful to be out and about and we also experience that within our programs. Um, so, um, that's all I'm going to have to say about that, but if if you have any questions, please let me know. But thought I'd kind of go into the basics of our program. Um, where our food comes from, and this is why the model's changed. Uh, we actually do about 56% of the food we purchase. And so that is food that we purchase from Second Harvest primarily. Um, and that is our food bank. A lot of people think of Second Harvest as another food shelf. They actually are not. They're kind of our wholesaler. Um they arrange for free or reduced food. Also do some of the federal food which is called TFAP. Um and help coordinate that. One of the things I do like to highlight is about a third of our food comes from food rescue partners. U these are local grocery stores um and list that you can see right there. Um we have nine different places that we pick up on a weekly basis and some of them daily um within the week and this is some of the best food that we're able to give away and that's why that turnover of food is really quickly. Um this is a lot of times the bakery deli um and fresh produce that is um some of the best food but also has a short shelf life. Um we have two locations and we have plus mobile market uh locations. So uh the place on Whitaker is our curbside pickup. Um and then the community market is our new location and uh all these different mobile markets. Um and these are just a few of the different mobile market sites that we distribute out and I'll talk about those now. curbside um began during COVID um because of you know wanting to have the restrictions of not interacting and having people in um pretty tight quarters in the Whitaker location. Um and so 30 appointments a day was really about the max. What that allowed us to do moving to this model uh was we were able to scale up pretty quickly and be able to do it in a safe manner. And what we found is people really like that model um because you don't have to leave your car. Same thing that you'd like at uh Target Air Cup. And so we're open five days a week there. Um it's ideal for seniors that have mobility um issues, young families that don't want to bring in three or four kids um and that kind of thing. Um our other market, our other location is our community market. opened in 2024. Um, it's kind of that corner style grocery market. That's where a lot of our food rescue goes to. Um, and people are able to shop in person. This is our return to person. So, we have a virtual uh weight list line so we don't have people standing outside the building waiting in line. Um, we uh implemented that about a year ago and that is very popular. We have about 150 uh visitors per day at that location. The last primary place for us is is our mobile markets. Um we um take the food shelf uh to other locations that are really struggling with transportation or mobility. And so, uh, we go to some senior, uh, uh, facilities, uh, Century College apartment buildings, and, uh, we do during the summer, we do free produce markets. Um, one thing I didn't put up on the slide that I'm just realizing too is part of our mobile program is also our kid pack program, which we give out to um, uh, to school age, elementary school age. We have um, that available. So, it's about 325 to 330 uh kids each week um that receive that. And then in the junior high and senior highs in our school district, we have pantries so kids can come in and shop. I'll have to add that to the slide. Um our volunteers, uh we have about 250 plus volunteers, unique volunteers each month that serve at the food shelf. Uh, and what that translates into is about uh 20,000 hours uh plus of uh annual uh workforce that really helps us do what we do. Um, and um they are the they're the engine in which we run. So, a lot of our staff helps facilitate that. and uh several opportunities I say from 7:30 to 7:30 at night um throughout Monday through Friday. Best ways for people to help out. A lot of people think food shelf, food donations, that's great. A lot of times we steer them towards um the items that we have to pay close to retail price. So we have our most wanted food items and we update that on the website on a regular basis. Um, another way to make impact is that financial support. A lot of times we're able to buy food uh at a more um efficient way than you can buy at the grocery store. We can buy pallets. I know um just today we had several pallets of watermelon and cantaloupe coming in. A lot of produce that is available through our partnership at Second Harvest. So people are able to do that in a variety of different ways and try to make that as easy as possible. And then I like to highlight some easy ways for people to participate our events. I was just promoting uh the big event that's coming up on Saturday as our Heartbeat for Hunger event. It's a beach concert August 1st out at the county park. We have a couple of bands that have been on The Voice and America's Got Talent um that are ones from Woodbury and other ones from the Twin Cities. I'm not sure where Frankie is from in the Twin Cities. And uh we've tried to make that available for any financial donation. So, um looking forward to that. And and that is really sponsored by our community. So, um but there's other events that you've probably seen or heard of. the barely open golfing on the ice. We do a Thanksgiving distribution which we give 800 turkeys and the meals around that as part of that stamp out hunger and various there. And then finally, this is our staff team. So we have uh 15 on our staff team now. um and they are the people that help coordinate those 250 volunteers um to help make that um make our organization run. So um a lot of them are local people that have come back and they say, "I never thought I'd work back in White Bear Lake." Um but it's really fun to have um some of local people as part of the food show. So great team behind me. So, I guess I'm going to pause. Okay. >> Talk really fast and I'll answer any questions that you might have. >> No, it's great. I just want to highlight the thing this weekend. It's at Ramsey Beach. Is that correct? At the Ramsey County Park at the beach. >> Yep. >> Okay. And how do people get tickets to that? >> The It's available online. Um the Heartbeat for Hunger uh website. Um you can buy tickets there. You can also buy tickets uh or get tickets, I should say. I keep on saying buy tickets, but it's uh you can get a ticket for free and then you're asked to be able to financially donate um any any way, shape, or form. >> Okay. And or they can just show up. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Awesome. All right. Um, well, and I just wanted to uh say great job with switching it over to more healthy food and more food that maybe goes bad faster, but it's healthier for people, which affects learning and diabetes. And, you know, it's I know it's very common that if people can't afford food, they buy the cheapest stuff and it's not always the best for them. And then we end up with lots of insurance problems and we also end up with kids that aren't learning. And so I love that you've changed that focus. And um even though people have to come more, they're getting healthier food which is helping in the long run with everything, keeping costs down for everybody. So um I really like that. Um >> yeah, >> the So you have had funding cuts this year. Is is that true or they're coming next year? >> Yeah, it's more to the programs that support it. So, what we've seen is with uh the TFAP program, which is federal food that would be that would be available through Second Harvest to us that we're having to purchase more food. >> Okay. >> Um so, we're trying to, you know, arrange our budget accordingly, but we're also uh when we look at um cuts, it's more um either to programs or to the programs that support people. Mhm. >> Um and so far we don't really receive a lot of like direct funding uh from uh from the federal government, right? >> Um we do receive an annual um support by um the state um and that has been very generous of late. Um uh and uh especially during the government shutdown also uh received some funding from the state and also from Ramsey County. Ramsey County has been supportive in that. So, um uncertain on on beyond that, but I think really we saw with this with the government shutdown um a realization of how much SNAP and changes to SNAP are going to really affect people because uh one of the things that I learned during that is for every nine meals that SNAP provides a food the food shelf system only um supports one. So, um, reductions in that, um, is a a significant issue. >> So, >> okay. So, the more that that is cut down, the more you're going to need donations from our community and people helping more and more with the food shelf. >> Yeah, potentially. I mean, it's all it's going to be interesting to see, but that's um what we're planning on is u we're just preparing our next fiscal budget to to be able to be buying more food um to be able to do that. >> Okay. >> Y >> does anybody have any questions? Oh, Andrea, >> thank you for your presentation. It's a lot of a lot of information and a lot of people in our community who have a fair amount of need. Um I have worked in nonprofits for decades now and um partially I have at times worked with people who receive SNAP um or other you know family benefits um that have a food component to them. And um I can't tell you how much I appreciate the change in the model to opening it up to people when they actually need it and how often they need it. The number of times that myself and my colleagues have had to try to figure out where people can go for their next free food because they have they're out of money and they've already used this one and they've already used that one. So like where else can they go and they don't have money for transportation? It's just it just compounds problems. Um so I just I just I really appreciate that that's the new model that we're going towards. >> Yeah. A lot of times I mean you find that um a f when a person finally gets a point that they're going to reach out to a food shelf. Um they're at a um you don't want to create more and more barriers. Um they're not there to take advantage of the system. Um, and there's we really try to we really see that as um people are very um appreciative and realize that um this helps take one bill off of their their a pressure point for them that allows for them to um really um bring stability for them and their family. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Um I went to the open house, I think I told you of that. Yeah. of the community market and there was some office space that there was a discussion about having potentially other like community partners that would be there. I'm just kind of wondering if if you have an update on that if there if there are partners or if your staff are using that or kind of how that if that space is being used for anything. >> Yeah. What we found out, we did have partners in to our community market and had them tableabling um like we had intended to. What we did find is that once people were in the market, they want to shop and move on. Um and so we started to do a little bit of tableabling outside um which is really dependent on the weather. And then we've shifted some of that to more of our free produce markets um because there is a kind of a lineup and there's space and that kind of thing. Um, so that's been a little bit better of a fit there. Um, I really we really looked at our community market and we we look at as a stepping stone to what the future might hold and what we'd learn there. One of the things that we didn't uh build within the model was a lobby where people could have those interactions. There's not really the space and the design there. So that's one of the things that we really are learning from to to do differently in the future. Um and a lot of times it was not a very it was a very public place for people to interact and when you're talking about housing instability or mental health um like some of the partners that we're having in there um that very public facing area was just not uh wellreceived in that way. So, um, and then honestly there was a cut in funding with Ramsey County and some of their ability to, uh, do some of the housing support and so no longer were they able to send staffing, uh, for that u component. So, >> I guess just one last thing, the the mobile markets are just >> like also just really great to go to where people actually are. Um, and I noticed that there were um like apartments and also Century College. Um, like I I happened to go to Sentry College again a long time ago, but but there were people who had food needs then just like I'm sure there are now. I'm just curious kind of how how it works like what's the um how were you received? How is it used? Like what is it what is it like? Yeah, every place is a little unique um of how we go about it. We kind of try to model it uh to the the general location, but there is we try to limit the amount of uh intake with all of our programs realizing that that's one of the barriers that people have. Um but for the most part there would be like a check-in um in which we'd gather a little bit of information um and then be able to allow people we like to have choice and so have the ability where they can pick out um what they have and might have limitations to that um but uh for the most part set that up and allow people to shop. So, senior uh facility, uh we would typically set up in their lounge area, their meeting area, and then have a a time for people to shop for an hour or two um and be able to kind of uh utilize that service. I don't know if that answers your question. >> It's all good. Thank you. Thank you. >> I'm wondering about the mobile markets. Have you seen a shift just with the gas prices the way they are right now going up and food prices going up? Have you seen a shift in more people using the mobile markets and less people using the one on Whitaker for the drive up? >> Well, the mobile markets are really more targeted, so they're not really it's not necessarily open to people outside of that facility. >> Okay. >> Um and so, um not necessarily. I think what we've seen that I've been most curious about is kind of our curbside market being less utilized. Mhm. >> Um and so don't know if there's an association with that or not. Um but um uh I think it's all it kind of all interweavves with one another of um with with those transportation costs. Um and uh I just don't really have sufficient information on that for you. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Any other questions? Council member Walsh. >> Thank you. I'll start philosophically and then I have some more specific things. Uh just if you can go back to the slide on the spike in in usage way back in the beginning. I think that the statewide slide and just do you my question is do you guys in your in your in your business in your in what you do I mean I imagine you go to national conferences and you talk to your colleagues and there's there's training and there's opportunities. Is there I'm just looking at this saying you've changed your your model and you've lowered barriers to to access >> and your in usage went up. Well, from an economic standpoint, of course it did. >> Um and is there a is there a is it does it chase itself? I just wonder if we're not chasing ourselves and if we're just, you know, well, yeah, we made it easier for people to get food and there's no economic transaction in it. So, we shouldn't be surprised that more people took advantage of it. So, do you guys discuss that? And is there like this this thing spiked? >> I've been watching this for years. I think this is a fascinating it's a fascinating chart. It's the most fascinating statistic in Minnesota, I think, >> because we focus a lot on inputs all the time. How much money do we put into a program? We congratulate ourselves. This is awesome. This is an output. this is something that's happening in the community that's real and it's an output. It's a better statistic of how things are going, I think, than you know how much we put into a program on the on the input side. So, I've just been trying to figure out for years what is going on here because it the our economy is, you know, we're we're losing residents. We're we're we're our GDP growth has slowed down, but not that much. I mean, not not to the point where we should have this kind of a spike in that chart. So, I guess my first question is, do you guys discuss that sort of is it is this thing tail chasing the dog or the dog chasing the tail? Is it ever going to >> Well, yeah. I think that's I think one of the Yeah. So, we talk about this. Um, I don't do a national stuff as much. I'll leave that up to Second Harvest and some of the bigger organizations for us. Um I do have a a group of other executive directors of food shelves, the bigger food shelves in the Twin Cities. We get together and talk about that because the narrative a lot of times says the need is is that but really it's also the models changed. There's the need has gone up that I think that's significant. Has it has it gone up by 9 million? Um all right. It's it's really because if you would say that um the because of the model changing it really has affected that number and is that number the best representation of the need the absolute need of the organ. >> It's hard to tell. Yeah, >> it is hard to tell. It it's just the reality that we can track. >> So it's it's it's not just White Bear that made this model change. That's a that's a kind of an industrywide kind of a model change. >> Correct. So that's so that's >> yeah effective >> and it really is driven by uh the a lot of food rescue and so trying to have less and less food waste. So you're trying to turn that food around quickly and so you want to drive that not to be just a monthly appointment that somebody is only going to get some food that's going to last for three to four or five days. You're trying to get them um getting more of that food to more people quickly. Mhm. >> So, a little bit a little bit of the model change there, but the need has gone up. The margins when you talk about housing costs um eating into this um it really is uh realization of that. Plus, it also I think it is about trying to be more welcoming um and realizing that this is a a way that we can bring um security to our community um and be that safety net that allows them to stay in their housing instead of having that turnover to be able to utilize that. >> You you would say that you would stigma has gone down. >> Yeah. And that's one of the reasons why when I was on the board, we decided to take out emergency out of our name because we didn't want to wait till the emergency that you're have a notice on the door that you're going to get kicked out to be able to utilize a food shelf. We'd rather you utilize the food shelf and have that stability within your your family until you're ready to move on from that. >> I think you you mentioned you get some data, you know, but it's difficult because you don't you want to be welcoming like you say. So you got to fill out a long form. You're going to be pushing people away. I mean that would be the most interesting I think you know maybe voluntary surveys and like so you could answer that question like who is getting help in White Ber Lake at the food shelf not individually but what kind of people what what is the circumstance if there was more information on that because I think one of our problems right now it's it's state policy. It's not city policy. I mean this is a great briefing. Thank you. But, you know, we we keep spending time on, you know, well, we gota we got to get more money to Second Harvest because the demand is there and and then we're not spending enough time surveying who's there and what's going on. Housing is a big an easy target an easy thing to understand and there's a lot of work actually we have worked in this body on housing um making housing more affordable and again a lot of state policy there too but I think more surveys of who what kind of people what's going on in their lives temporary overtime would be would be valuable I think and I don't know how to do that I mean but you know voluntarily please take out a survey tell us why you're here today I want your name or anything but uh that'd be more valuable >> yeah and that's That is a big focus within our industry about having uh we call it, you know, shopper or neighbor feedback and trying to get that to model our our what we're able to meet the need and what we're serving. Um but what what's behind that also? Yeah. >> Kids, 300 kids, 330 kids a week on food and so we're doing free lunch and breakfast now in the schools. And is that changed that? I would have thought that would obviously is this dinner we're talking about? I mean it's not every meal but they're getting free breakfast and free that's offered to them everybody across the board. >> Yeah. So these kid packs are primarily for Friday so it's over the weekend. Um and that's always been the case. >> And um we did see a dip um in uh kid pack usage. Um but once again trying to figure that out of why that's the case. Is it because we're communicating better with the schools or with the staff? Um there can be a variety of things there. But um it is something where it is the most used program now than it has been in my tenure. Um is is where we're at with that. Um, and it is our most expensive program um, within that of being able to have stuff that kids are able to take home and be able to use easily because we're not putting fresh vegetables and that kind of thing in that uh, kid pack program. >> Okay. My last my last comment is on the curbside pickup and I have to say this on behalf of my constituent who uh, and hasn't I haven't heard from my constituent in a long time. So, I'm hoping that means things are better with the line the line of cars in front of his driveway uh and turning around and I and I assume you've you've gotten that kind of feedback. So, I guess the good news is I haven't got a call in a long time, but I'm on their behalf. I want to just ask how that's going and let you know that I've heard that feedback and and have communicated a little bit to to you guys on that. >> Yeah, it it's uh I feel for our neighbors across the street. >> Yeah. >> Um and realize that that's not um it it's unusual. Um, and we try to make the best of it and they're they're very good neighbors. They understand. Um, and so it's it's not a it is um an issue I'm working on to uh resolve long term into a a location that would be uh more suitable uh for a distribution of that kind. Um, but I really do appreciate our neighbors across the street that are um have been very supportive of that and and have um you know, we can't control people pulling into people's driveways and and that, but we we do our best to really >> educate them, tell them, you know, >> and uh uh please let our staff know if there's any issues because we want to address that as quickly as possible. >> We should, Madame Mayor, we should develop that site and then find a new home for the food shelf. That that that's the answer. Long term. >> Thank you. >> Let's go. >> Okay. >> Does anybody else have any questions? Council member Gorillaola. >> Yeah, thank you so much for sharing. Um especially appreciate your food recovery efforts, food waste is such a significant impact from a sustainability lens and greenhouse gas emissions. So being able to reuse that and leaning into that, I think is great because there's a need and it's being met. Um, I was wondering, I know some during the summer the kid pack doesn't happen. Um, and so my main thing I've been wondering is how apartments I've spoken to some families and I volunteered with KidPack 2 and I, you know, is I think I'm a family of four and you know and they kid packs it's like okay two boxes of like macaroni and then like four like you know two fruit snicks and you know a little thing of cereal like it's some but for a weekend you know it's it's not a lot but it really means a lot I know to many of these families and most of them are in apartments And I was wondering because I had tried to help um one parent find a location and her main thing is okay we can't qual we don't qualify for help but also we can't we're paying $50 for diaper like so much of the cost of living has gone up that she's like we just can't like we need to rely on these things we haven't relied on before and with that but they also like have car issues often. So I'm wondering how a site like how you select an apartment sites um and how those get chosen or are there things people can re like say hey please come to our apartment or how does that work? >> We really rely upon our partners to help us identify that um and especially um some some of our school partners to be able to help identify uh young families that are are struggling. Um and so um yeah, I think that the process is really dependent on funding of what we're able to do with those. But um we really realize that the Kidpack program and even our mobile program ideally is uh an entry point into a sustainable uh place like our two uh our two locations. Ideally, our our future location would have public transportation to it. Um but once again when you think of bags of groceries, public transportation it becomes complicated. So um we have uh explored different options there. Um, but it will be as we kind of look at future kind of things that that'll be a high consideration of making accessibility even be more so than just there's not the barriers of where you're coming from or who's involved um and what information you're giving. Um but um but also how you get there. >> Yeah. And I've even looked like helping you know this one family like okay can we what's a walking path you know trying to get there safely because some are close like some of the churches but then if you're trying to cross 61 like that's you so things like that that you know I think we can take into consideration too like a lot of families okay like I've been without a car living in White Bear Lake and I was able to get by with my wagon and my kid or my bike and you know that but I think thinking of you know ways we can help. I guess I appreciate that. >> Well, one thing to know too, um, and we really tried to make a big emphasis of this during Operation Metro Surge is people can pick up food for people. And so we do have the ability for proxy shopping. And so if a neighbor is not mobile, um, another neighbor can pick up for them. And that's a, um, ability for people to do that. I I know that we have um uh that really became more and more of a a something that we were trying to really make people known, but that had been our tradition for before my time. So, uh for people to be able to do that. >> And then my last one uh kind of comment question. I think your staff's incredible. I think a lot of people who keep returning for like pack and volunteering from my few times I have is like they're there too because they love Maddie and seeing and being able to you know just work like she knows them personally and they feel connected and it's an incredible you know community to go and volunteer with um and even Ashley the first time I volunteered she said oh you do food recovery at your work can I get involved with that and I'm thinking you do this for a living and you're even trying to get more involved and I really think it speaks to the people who are who you have employed there. Um I'm wondering though when I usually volunteer it's you know mostly retirees. I believe once there was even a woman who was in her late 80s and she was there and I'm wondering if you have concerns about that. Like I know Carol does a great job saying, "Hey, here's the open spots and you know it's usually pretty full, but do you have concerns about that demographic um to get to a point not being able to volunteer? And do you see there is more of a younger demographic being able to fill those spots or is that something you all have concern about or No. You know, I wouldn't say that it's uh a big concern at this point in time. Um we've had a very strong volunteer base and it just makes sense that people vol you know retire and they're uh have the availility especially during the day during the programs are operating mostly um that they're able to help out. Um yeah, over seven years I would have thought that especially my beginning, but it just seems to get better and better. Um so I don't know where that will where that will change. Um but we love having young people be involved in that and we really encourage groups to come in and and volunteer when possible. Um we do have some limitations within our facility about having larger groups and um that kind of thing, but for the most part um we're able to be creative um within that. But yeah, >> and I think the ones we have right now, I I enjoyed when I go volunteer with them very much and they're really incredible volunteers. So, however they're getting there in recruiting, they're doing an incredible job and thank you just for everything you all do. >> Yeah. One thing that you said in the beginning that I forgot to mention is another thing that we do with our food waste is we have a local pig farmer that comes and picks up everything that doesn't go out. So, we actually discontinued our compost bin. Um because almost all that goes out, as I like to say, it goes out to make bacon. So, um and uh um yeah, so we just try to really keep that um uh reduce any type of waste as possible. So, >> any other questions? Yeah, >> I have any questions? But I the city has worked with you and the food shelf for a very long time and you know, city clerk Long and Dyke sits on the food shelf board and previous to that assistant city manager Juba did and I'm just appreciate I'm one I'm amazed by everything that you guys do and I'm appreciative that you're in the community and you're really really in the community and it kind of feels like you're an extension of the city. we work together so closely and um I can't believe this is the first time that we've had you here at the council meeting at least in the last 5 years. But just thank you for all that you do for the community and um we've been working close the last year and a half or so on maybe a potentially very exciting thing um for us to partner on in the future, but just thanks for being here. I don't have any questions. Just wanted to say that. >> Well, and it's been a pleasure with the staff um and everybody involved with the city. Um it's great to have Kelly on the board. She's um she's great. Um and and uh I was able to serve on the board with Rick, which was a lot of fun, too. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Thank you, Lindy. >> Oh, wait. M council member Edber just emailed me his questions you like me ask. There's only there's like 13 of them. So, if you just I'm kidding. I'm kidding. >> All right. >> Um but you know, and I just want to say thank you. Um because you know this we have a really strong community in White Beer Lake and this starts it with people being fed and being able to stay stable in their homes and and be able to stay healthier and it's all part of a better community and a stronger community and it we all work together and I'm just so appreciative of everything you guys do and I think we have a really strong strong community here and it starts with things like this. So thank you. >> Yeah. and thanks for coming in. >> Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. >> Right. Thank you. >> All right. Um, item six, public hearings. We have nothing scheduled. Item seven, unfinished business. We have nothing scheduled. Item eight, new business. We have nothing scheduled. Item nine, discussion. We have nothing scheduled. Um item 10, communications from the city manager, Miss Crawford. >> Have a couple slides just to prolong the meeting here. Yeah, >> just for Council Member Angster. >> Um primary election uh is coming up and there's a lot on the screen. I people can read it if they want, but I just thought that we should share some um you know in voting in person um before the election day options. There are three locations in Ramsey County for people to do that. um in St. Paul and Roseville and Shore View and dates and times are up there. Um it's it's complicated so we wanted to list everything. And then of course for um voting in person um there's something beeping Tuesday um August 11th um polling places are open 7 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. And uh because we have the primary election on August 11th the regular city council meeting is moved to Wednesday August 12th at 7 p.m. >> And oh sorry will that be on our website the voting locations and uh the dates? >> Ramsey County >> Ramsey County. So if people want to look learn more so Ramsey County administers our elections for us. We put it all in our spring newsletter. Um and then Yep. It's it's can be found on that website link right there. Ramsey countymn.gov/elections. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> And then upcoming uh events. Um I think I I thought I edited this to say floats with the floats with the fuzz and fire. Um July 29th from 1 to 2:30. I think that's that's tomorrow, right? Yes. Tomorrow, >> um the last market fest of the season is Thursday, um 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. downtown April Lake. It's the environmental expo um that our staff um put a lot of effort into among many others. So, please join us. The farmers market uh is going on now uh through October 30th from 8:00 to 12:00 on Fridays um uh on Clark Avenue. night to unite, national night out, um is of course uh you know across the country, but that's the evening of August 4th and half of our elected officials um will be out and about with um police and fire, so in their respective wards. Um so looking forward to that. And then the last Fridays with firefighters is August 7th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the South Fire Station. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. All right. Does anybody else have anything they want to report or discuss? Nope. Okay. All right. Item 11, adjournment. Um, uh, I would >> move to >> Yeah. Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed? And we're adjourned.