Last week’s inflation reports confirmed what many Minnesotans already feel every time they swipe a card at the grocery store or fill up at the gas pump: The cost of everyday life remains painfully high.

Grocery prices continue to climb, and rising energy costs are beginning to ripple through household budgets once again. Even careful budgeting, discount grocery shopping and cutting back can only stretch so far. For many families, seniors, students and caregivers, the math simply is not working right now.

At Open Cupboard, we see that reality every day.

Related: Hunger fears grow in Minnesota as food shelves are overwhelmed

As Minnesota’s most visited food shelf, we know that food insecurity does not look just one way. It looks like a working parent trying to keep fresh food on the table while balancing rent, childcare and gas costs. It looks like a senior stretching a fixed income through the end of the month. It looks like a college student having to work more than study. It looks like caregivers doing their best to support loved ones while managing rising household expenses.

And increasingly, it looks like people visiting a food shelf for the very first time.

That can come with hesitation, embarrassment or stigma. But the truth is simple: Food shelves are here for moments exactly like this.

At Open Cupboard, we believe people deserve access to fresh, healthy food in ways that work for their lives. That is why we offer four distinct programs: monthly drive-up distributions, home delivery for shoppers unable to travel, mobile distributions in senior and mobile home communities, and Today’s Harvest free fresh markets, open six days a week, including evenings and weekends.

Some households rely on larger monthly grocery distributions that help carry them through many meals. Others stop into Today’s Harvest to pick up fresh produce, dairy or bread to round out a meal or stretch a grocery budget until the next check comes in. Both matter.

That flexibility is part of why shoppers from more than 130 zip codes visited Open Cupboard last year.

And importantly, everyone is welcome here.

Food shelves are not only for moments of absolute crisis. They are community resources designed to help people navigate difficult stretches, unexpected expenses and rising costs of living. Sometimes that means needing support for a month or two. Sometimes it means shopping more regularly while trying to regain stability. There should be no shame in that.

Much of the fresh food available at Open Cupboard and food shelves across Minnesota has been rescued from grocery stores, distributors and partners, often just that morning. Instead of going to waste, that food helps keep plates filled across our communities.

Last year, Minnesotans made more than 327,000 shopping trips to Open Cupboard programs, helping fill more than 5.5 million plates with free, fresh food.

Those numbers are large because the need is large. But they also reflect something hopeful: Communities continuing to care for one another.

Food shelves today are more than emergency response. We are essential community infrastructure: responsive, reliable and resilient resources families can count on when life becomes more expensive, uncertain, or difficult.

So if grocery costs are stretching your budget too thin right now, if you are worried about rising prices, or if you simply need a little help making the numbers work, please know this:

Your neighborhood food shelf is here for you.

And if you are not near Open Cupboard, find the food shelf closest to you. Because everyone deserves access to good food — especially in moments like this.

Jessica Francis is executive director of Open Cupboard, which describes itself as Minnesota’s most visited food shelf.

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