• A place where people come hungry, and leave hopeful

Our Mission

Rooted in God’s Loving Grace

Community Emergency Service transforms lives by serving neighbors, sharing resources and becoming community

Founded in 1971 by Pastor William Berg, CES originally functioned as an outreach of Augustana Lutheran Church to offer critical aid to Minneapolis residents. Decades later, it stands as a fully independent, expanded nonprofit with the largest Meals on Wheels program in the state.

Based in the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in Minneapolis, CES staff and volunteers are on the frontlines of providing food, hope, and compassion to our multi-generational, multi-cultural, low-income clientele. We strive to serve our neighbors in need without distinction or test, with dignity and understanding.

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Our Vision

CES meets hunger where it is a critical need, on client's food shelves with Home Delivery to the homebound and Meals on Wheels to seniors.

CES fosters community among its clients, because a strong community is the best hope for sustainable relief from hunger and poverty.

CES partners with other community-based services that aid clients in building a foundation for stability and independence.

Our Values

We operate in a neighborhood that is culturally, ethnically and religiously diverse. We strive to serve all our neighbors in need, as Christ would have us do, without distinction or test. We invite support from volunteers and donors and are open to collaboration with other agencies, regardless of religious affiliation.

We are a community.

As people of deep faith we long for a day when no one is living without hope or health and so we dedicate ourselves to wholeness in each individual - wholeness of body, mind and spirit. When caring people come together to serve one another, there exists a Sacred Community.

We respect the dignity of each of person.

Our clients are our neighbors and they deserve our unconditional love and acceptance, as we seek to earn theirs.

We are servants.

We provide food to our hungry neighbors; we provide hope, encouragement and a caring human presence. We seek to serve in a Christ-like manner all that come to CES in need of physical, emotional or spiritual sustenance.

We are stewards.

We are good stewards of the opportunity that has been given to us to enrich our own lives and the lives of others through generous service and the spiritual connection that binds all children of God.

We are good neighbors.

We seek to collaborate with other organizations and individuals in our greater community that we may better provide a network of support for our neighbors in need, empowering them on their journey toward self-sufficiency and independence.

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Strategic Plan

Our History

50 Years of CES