Blackduck Food Shelf opens Tuesday, sets twice-monthly summer hours

The Blackduck Food Shelf will open Tuesday from 3 to 5 p.m. at Blackduck Evangelical Free Church, 241 Oscar Ave., giving Blackduck-area residents a regular summer food access point on a twice-monthly schedule.

North Country Food Bank said the shelf is opening to meet growing need. In Blackduck, mobile food drops have drawn an average of 65 households this year in a community of about 850 people, a level of demand that shows how important a steady local pickup site can be for a small town in Beltrami County.

The new shelf is listed in North Country Food Bank’s agency directory at the Oscar Avenue church address. The food bank serves 21 counties in northwest and west central Minnesota through 220 partner agencies, and the Blackduck site adds another local stop in a network built around churches, food shelves and volunteers.

Neighbors using the Blackduck Food Shelf will not need documentation, and the event listing says all are welcome. Volunteers will be available to help load vehicles, which keeps the process low-barrier for people who may be juggling work schedules, transportation limits or the added cost of groceries during the summer months.

Blackduck Evangelical Free Church says it hosts the shelf in cooperation with other area churches and community members to meet local needs. That role has been building for some time: North Country Food Bank held a mobile food distribution in Blackduck on May 20, 2025, at the same church address, and another Blackduck mobile food drop was later reported for Sept. 23 at the Oscar Avenue site.

The new summer schedule makes that service more predictable. Instead of waiting for a one-day distribution, residents will have a twice-monthly option they can plan around, an important shift in a rural area where food access can depend on a narrow window and a long drive.

The Blackduck shelf also fits into a broader summer food landscape in the region. The Boys and Girls Club of the Bemidji Area has offered summer food service with distribution locations at the Bemidji and Blackduck clubs and the Conifer community, underscoring how local organizations are trying to close gaps that often widen when school meals are not available.