No car? No problem.
Food shelf boxes, delivered to your door.
We partner with local food shelves to deliver food shelf boxes directly to families and individuals facing transportation, mobility, and geographic barriers that keep them from accessing food themselves.
Founding stage. Led by founder Isaiah Kretzman. Moving fast toward our first routes.
Your food shelf packs it. We carry it to the door.
We are not a grocery delivery service, and we don't replace the food shelf. We extend it, reaching the neighbors a food shelf already knows can't make the trip.
The food shelf packs the box
A partner food shelf identifies the households who need delivery and packs their boxes, just as it always has.
Our driver picks it up
NLFA volunteers and drivers collect the packed boxes from the food shelf in our delivery vehicle.
It arrives at the door
Households facing transportation, mobility, or geographic barriers get their box at home. No trip required.
For neighbors who can't get to the food shelf.
Transportation
No car, no reliable ride, or no way across town while the food shelf is open.
Mobility
Age, health, or disability makes the trip, or carrying a full box home, out of reach.
Geography
Miles of Northern Minnesota road between home and the nearest food shelf.
We aren't making deliveries yet. We're choosing where to launch first, and every household that tells us about their community helps us decide.
Where we are right now
Built from the ground up in 2026, and moving fast.
Founded
Organized under Minnesota nonprofit law, with a board taking shape.
Partnering with food shelves
Building referral relationships with local food shelves and community agencies.
Building the fleet
Our first delivery vehicle is in hand, and we're actively adding more.
Choosing launch communities
Help us decide where to start, and point us to your local food shelf.
Help us map where to launch first.
We're deciding which communities to serve first based on real need, working through local food shelves to reach the families and individuals who need us most. Tell us about your community. It takes ten seconds and directly shapes our rollout plan.
This opens your email app with your answers filled in. Share only your town, not a street address.
Run a food shelf or community organization?
We'd love to talk about partnering. You identify and pack the boxes. Our volunteers and drivers deliver them to households facing transportation, mobility, or geographic barriers. We aren't here to duplicate what you do. We're here to extend your reach to the neighbors you already know are out there.
An honest starting point
We're a young organization, and we'd rather build this partnership from where we really are than overstate it.
- A Minnesota nonprofit corporation with bylaws, a board structure, and operating procedures.
- A dedicated delivery vehicle, with more on the way.
- A growing base of volunteers ready to begin making deliveries.
- Our federal 501(c)(3) application is in preparation.
Help us get on the road.
Drive with us
We're building a base of volunteer drivers and helpers who can carry boxes from a food shelf to a doorstep.
Lend us wheels
Have a truck or van that could carry food? Refrigerated space matters most for fresh and perishable items. Talk to us about donating or selling one.
Pass it on
Know a neighbor who could use a box, or a food shelf that should hear from us? Share this page with them.
Help fuel the first routes.
Gifts of any size help us get our delivery vehicle on the road and food shelf boxes to the neighbors who can't make the trip. Here is what they cover:
- Fuel for delivery routes
- Insurance for our delivery vehicle
- Packaging supplies
Northern Lakes Food Access is not yet recognized as a 501(c)(3), so gifts are not tax-deductible for now. We'd rather tell you that up front.
No one should go without food because they lack a way to get to it.
Northern Lakes Food Access is a Minnesota nonprofit built around that simple idea. It was founded in 2026 by Isaiah Kretzman, who leads it as Executive Director.
Isaiah Kretzman
Founder and Executive Director