Chamber Ambassadors Welcome Jennifer Aakre as Bemidji Food Shelf Director

Chamber volunteers from the Bemidji Area Chamber Ambassadors visited the Bemidji Community Food Shelf to congratulate Jennifer Aakre on her appointment as executive director during a March 1 visit, a leadership change at a nonprofit that served over 13,000 families in 2025. The visit puts Aakre at the center of an organization that reported serving 13,000-plus families, representing 41,000-plus individuals, last year.

The food shelf’s annual scale underscores the operational challenge facing new leadership: in 2025 the organization distributed almost 900,000 pounds of food, and in 2026 it marks 44 years of service to Bemidji and surrounding communities. The organization’s work, as reported by its records, is supported by around 500 volunteers and generous community donors, a support network Aakre will oversee as executive director.

Both the Chamber ambassador visit and the Bemidji Community Food Shelf biography material highlight Aakre’s community ties, and the Ambassador visit served as a public introduction to local partners and volunteers. The Chamber’s volunteer program is identified in Chamber materials as an outreach arm — "the welcoming faces of the Chamber, celebrating new openings, milestones, and business growth throughout the Bemidji area" — and has been active across downtown Bemidji this season.

Alongside the food shelf visit, Ambassadors also moved through downtown Bemidji to welcome new small businesses. They congratulated Randie Blumhagen on the opening of Dance Positive at 2134 Bardwell Drive NW, Unit 2, and stopped by The Yarn Cabin at 121 2nd St NW to note its new space. The Ambassador activity reflects the Chamber’s role in linking nonprofit leadership and small-business openings across the downtown corridor.

Dance Positive is a privately owned dance studio under Blumhagen’s ownership that offers instruction in multiple dance styles, private lessons, choreography services and competition opportunities, with a focus on creating a positive and inclusive environment for dancers of all ages. The studio’s downtown address places it alongside recent retail and service activity that Chamber volunteers cite as evidence of downtown vibrancy.

Aakre assumes executive leadership as the Bemidji Community Food Shelf prepares for its 44th year and continues to depend on around 500 volunteers and community donors to meet demand that reached more than 41,000 individuals in 2025. The Ambassadors’ visit ties that operational scale to civic and business networks in downtown Bemidji, linking food-shelf leadership to a small-business resurgence that includes Dance Positive and The Yarn Cabin.