North Country Food Bank is a bi-state food bank covering part of Grand Forks County in North Dakota and 21 counties in northwestern and western Minnesota, a geographically vast, sparsely populated rural region along the Red River Valley and beyond. Based in Crookston, Minnesota, with a move to a new East Grand Forks facility underway, it distributes food through partner agencies across both states. Susie Novak Boelter serves as Executive Director. It is a member of the Feeding America network.
North Country Food Bank sources food at scale and distributes it across a bi-state rural region through partner agencies, plus mobile distributions that reach small towns far from any grocery store. Covering one North Dakota county and 21 Minnesota counties means coordinating across two states’ systems over a vast, thinly populated area, much of it farm country along and beyond the Red River Valley. The organization is building a new East Grand Forks facility to expand capacity.
Susie Novak Boelter serves as Executive Director of North Country Food Bank, leading the bi-state organization through a period of rising demand and a major facility move from Crookston to East Grand Forks. She has overseen the food bank’s expansion across its rural service area.
The service area spans Grand Forks County in North Dakota and 21 counties in northwestern and western Minnesota. It is overwhelmingly rural and agricultural, with the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks metro at its center and small farming communities spread across long distances, where food insecurity is quieter than in cities but persistent and hard to reach.
Yes. North Country Food Bank is a registered 501(c)(3) and a Feeding America member. Donors can review its financials through Charity Navigator and GuideStar. Bulk buying and donated food mean a gift produces many meals.
Donations and volunteer shifts run through northcountryfoodbank.org. Volunteers sort and pack food and help at distributions, and cash gifts go furthest because of the food bank’s purchasing power.
North Country Food Bank covers the Grand Forks area and northwestern Minnesota, while Great Plains Food Bank covers the rest of North Dakota from Fargo and Bismarck. The two divide the region. For anyone in the Grand Forks area or northwestern Minnesota, North Country Food Bank is the lead organization.
Agencies across one ND county and 21 MN counties.
Food brought into remote rural communities.
A move to East Grand Forks to expand capacity.
School and weekend food support for kids at risk of hunger.
Sources: North Country Food Bank website (northcountryfoodbank.org), and Grand Forks Herald and Crookston-area reporting on the East Grand Forks facility move. We are not affiliated with North Country Food Bank and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
More North Dakota and food-bank resources