Our Mission
Bridge the gap for individuals and families who are faced with the challenge of having enough nourishing food and educational resources available to them.
Nearly 1 in 7 families in our community are “food insecure”, meaning they are not sure they will have the ability to meet their food needs from one day to the next. Many times these families will have unexpected expenses come up which disrupts their monthly budgets and makes providing food to the family a major challenge. Mimi’s Pantry aims to be a temporary stop-gap for individuals and families in this type of predicament.
Additionally, nearly 2 out of 5 students start the school year without all the supplies on their school list. In 2023, the National Retail Foundation reported "families with children in elementary through high school planned to spend an average of $890.07 on back-to-school items [that] year". Our Mimi's Pantry 4 Kids location aims to be a resource for parents and teachers to support their kids to have better access to the educational resources and enrichment opportunities they need to thrive, while also supplementing the food provided at our food pantry location with school snacks.
Inspiration
Lillian “Mimi” Curtin is the inspiration behind Mimi’s Pantry. She, along with her husband John, raised their family in the Northland. For many years she owned and operated a small cafe and was the manager of a local supermarket deli. She, like many women of her era, had to figure out how to make ends meet, especially when it came to feeding her family. Providing well-cooked balanced meals was important to her because she knew it was critical to her family’s well-being.
Mimi was always willing to give to others, even if it meant she would have to sacrifice something for herself. Never wanting anyone to go without a meal, she would often waive the bill due because she knew that person or family was struggling. She definitely displayed what we would call today a “Servant Mentality” and she instilled that mindset in her children. One of her favorite sayings to her kids was, “Try never did anything.” You didn’t just try, you were expected to just do it. It is that same spirit we bring to Mimi’s Pantry.
Our founder, Dennis, has continued that passion for service and "just do it" spirit in every aspect of Mimi's Pantry. Thanks to his belief in the power of education and literacy, and continuing with Mimi's focus on healthy food, we now have two complimentary locations to meet the needs of our families in more ways - through nourishment, education and enrichment.
