Store To Door was recently featured on the front page of the Pioneer Press.
Read more here.

Store To Door was mentioned in this article entitled, “Clients, $1B in services up in air” about what’s an essential state service and how Minnesota’s nonprofits are smack in the middle of the shutdown debate.

Check out the agendas for the state shutdown’s “special master” and it’s hard to miss the petitions of nearly 30 nonprofits seeking funds for everything from welfare-to-work programs to housing for the homeless.

Minnesota grants about $1 billion a year to nearly 1,900 nonprofit groups to deliver health, human services, jobs programs and more. Most are continuing to do the work required by their state contracts, but have no idea if or when they’ll get paid. And they worry about their clients.

Then Store To Door is mentioned:

The St. Paul-based nonprofit Store to Door, meanwhile, had just one request of the special master — funding for its grocery shopping and delivery service for homebound seniors.

Without its $37,000 quarterly check, dozens of seniors would start losing their grocery services, said executive director Mary Jo Schifsky.

“If we didn’t get the funding we petitioned for, we’d have to start reducing 60 to 70 grocery trips a week,” she said.

Schifsky said she’s now learned that her funding will continue.

Twin Cities Daily Planet had this article today about the acceleration in aging and the mission of Store To Door.

“A Twin Cities program that helps the elderly stay in their homes is going to need a little help as well if it is to properly serve the onrush of “baby boomers” now entering the ranks of senior citizens. 

Store To Door, a nonprofit organization formed 25 years ago in south Minneapolis, serves 1,300 elderly people in the seven-county metropolitan area from its base of operations in St. Paul. Last year, volunteer shoppers and Store to Door staffers filled and delivered 16,502 grocery orders-including some pharmacy prescriptions-to people’s kitchens that were valued at $1.2 million.“

Oakdale/Lake Elmo Review had this article about our expansion in to Washington County:

Seniors who are homebound and would like to have groceries delivered into their kitchens can now be served by Store to Door, a non-profit grocery shopping and delivery service. Store to Door has been serving the metro area since 1984 and is gradually expanding to help more clients.

“We are delighted to expand our service to seniors in Washington County,” said Executive Director Mary Jo Schifsky. “We already serve 1,300 clients in the metro area who want to continue to live independently but can no longer navigate around a grocery store and transport their groceries home,” she said.

Volunteers for Store to Door call senior clients every two weeks for their grocery order and shop for them. Then, a member of Store to Door staff delivers the groceries to the client’s kitchen, lifting heavy grocery items, putting frozen food away if asked, and loosening tight lids on items in jars. If a client has an order from the pharmacy, the volunteer will also pick it up.

Elderly seniors with a wide range of incomes use the service. The delivery fees for seniors who need home-delivered groceries are $3, $12 or $15 depending on their age, income and household size. In addition, delivery fees can be reduced if the senior is eligible for county benefits or insurance reimbursement.

All groceries are paid for by the client using personal check or a credit/debit or EBT card.

Store to Door is seeking volunteers to help its small staff. “Our volunteers take very detailed grocery orders and shop diligently so we deliver as accurate an order as we can to each client,” Schifsky said. “We could not operate without over 400 dedicated and caring volunteers.”

For more information, visit www.storetodoor.org or call 651-642-1892.

By ANDREW WALLMEYER

Looking to help more homebound seniors eat well and live independently, Store to Door is expanding its unique grocery delivery service in Washington County.

Last week, the St. Paul-based nonprofit met with a handful of St. Croix Valley social service organizations in an attempt to spread the word about its program, which Store to Door officials said currently serves about 20 people in the area but could serve many more.

“There are a lot of people out there who live on their own but for whatever reason find it difficult to get to the grocery store to get the things they need,” said Molly Kennedy Lageson, Store to Door volunteer coordinator. “We have some customers in Washington County already – in Stillwater, Woodbury, Lake Elmo, Mahtomedi – but we found that a lot of people just don’t know about our services. We want to make sure that they do, so when there comes a time when they need us, they know we’re here.”

With that in mind, Lageson spoke with representatives from HSI, Washington County, St. Mary’s Catholic Church of Stillwater, Rockpoint Church of Lake Elmo, New Life Church of Woodbury and Synergy Home Care at the Stillwater Senior Center to tell them more about Store to Door and how they can get individuals enrolled in the program.

[Read more...]

Nice article in today’s Minn Local run by Sun Newspapers, about our 25 years of service to the Twin Cities metro area.

“When Store to Door celebrates 25 years of serving the metro area on May 1 with a fundraising gala, the organizers are hoping to increase the visibility of their service as well as raise funds for it.”

“Around 400 active volunteers handle both the calling and the delivering, but clients pay for their own groceries. During 2008, around 25,000 calls were made, and around 18,000 orders were delivered to 1,300 clients.”

Read more here.

StarTribune reporter, Kim Ode, wrote a nice piece on us pointing out our efforts to increase our visibility in the community and reach those who need us. The piece is entitled, “From the cart, with heart. A nonprofit grocery delivery service is raising its profile to serve a growing population of aging Minnesotans who want to remain self-sufficient as long as possible.”

Ms. Ode started off her article with, “To far-flung families of the older clients on his grocery delivery route, James Osweiler is another watchful set of eyes and a friendly set of ears. To those to whom he delivers gallons of milk or jars of pickles, he’s a strong pair of hands. Bottom line, he’s all heart.”

She encapsulated our value to our clients well and this article is definitely worth a read.

From the Highland Villager (NOTE: click the “Full Screen” button in the bottom of the article window to view it full screen on your computer):