Nonprofit gives Latino community healthy, culturally appropriate food

MINNEAPOLIS — Inside the CareerForce building on East Lake Street in Minneapolis, employees with Latino advocacy organization CLUES unpack boxes of food for those in need.

Every Wednesday, CLUES holds its weekly food shelf "Canasta Familiar," providing fresh produce, healthy and culturally appropriate food, primarily for Latino families.

It's a program that Minnesota's largest Latino nonprofit has hosted since COVID began.

"This year we have seen a tremendous need," said CLUES President Ruby Azurdia-Lee.

Azurdia-Lee says it's a need that's doubled in the last year alone. Last year, she says CLUES served about 200 families per week. That number has double to about 400.

The reason has to do with an influx of migrants seeking out a better life in Minnesota.

"In Minneapolis in particular, we have a large number of Ecuadorians living here," Azurdia-Lee said. "In the last two, three years, we see a large influx of Venezuelans, Colombians, Ecuadorians too because family members are here."

Azurdia-Lee says they couldn't do what they do without help from volunteers like Tanya Astudillo, an Ecuadorian immigrant.

Astudillo is giving back to the food shelf that helped her get to where she is now, working in food service at a school in Minneapolis.

CLUES is seeking more volunteers like Astudillo to continue to help the Latino community for years to come.

"We are here to serve the Latino community as such we welcome everyone who is a new arrival," Azurdia-Lee said.

For Xcel Energy's Day of Service, volunteers will hand out dental hygiene kits at Fiesta Latina, CLUES' annual Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration. Last year, volunteers gave out 3,000 kits at the event.