GET FOOD
The Lakes Area Food Shelf is committed to ensuring that no one in the Brainerd Lakes Area goes hungry.
We utilize ”choice shopping", which means that it is set up like a grocery store, and you will choose your food and personal care items from our store. We purchase food, accept food donations and rescue food past its Best Buy date from local grocery and convenience stores. As a shopper, you agree to accept the food "as is". No sale of food is allowed.
Please remember to bring reusable bags or boxes for your groceries. We do not provide grocery bags or boxes.
We have two locations in Crow Wing County -- Pequot Lakes and Baxter (opening April 2026). Addresses and shopping hours are below.
Pequot Lakes location
Tuesday 9 AM - 12 PM Address: 29316 Patriot Avenue, Pequot Lakes
Wednesday 3 PM - 6 PM
Thursday 9 AM - 12 PM
Lakes Area Food Shelf(Pequot) may be closed if Pequot Schools are closed due to inclement weather. If the roads are too dangerous for buses to travel, then the same applies to our volunteers.
Baxter location (Opening April 2026 -- exact date TBD)
Tuesday 9 AM - 12 PM Address: 7837 Excelsior Road, Baxter
Wednesday 3 PM - 6 PM
Thursday 9 AM - 12 PM
In order to reduce wait times for parking spots and shopping carts, Lakes Area Food Shelf-Baxter will be using Signup Genius for shoppers to reserve 20-minute shopping timeframes. More details on this in the near future.
Lakes Area Food Shelf(Baxter) may be closed if Brainerd Schools are closed due to inclement weather. If the roads are too dangerous for buses to travel, then the same applies to our volunteers.
Eligibility
Any household making less than 300% of Federal Poverty Level (FPL) is eligible. Current year levels can be accessed at https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty. We do not require any documentation to visit the food shelf. We have a simple registration process where we request basic household information. Volunteers are available to help our neighbors through every step of the process.