Free Range Food Co-op Closer to Becoming Reality with Blandin Foundation Grant

$1.575 million grant adds momentum to longtime effort to build a community-owned grocery store

Key Points:

• Blandin Foundation awarded $1.575 million for construction of the Free Range Food Co-op (FRFC) in Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation (GRACF) serves as fiscal sponsor for the grant.
• Strategic Community Alignment: This initiative aligns with the Foundation’s priorities of community wealth building, rural placemaking and capacity building.
• Builds Community Wealth: The co-op’s member-owner model keeps start-up capital and revenue local, with benefits distributed widely among members. It will provide a hometown outlet for locally produced food and other goods.
• Supports Rural Placemaking: Located at a busy community crossroads, the co-op will bring together Itasca County residents and visitors while introducing a new downtown storefront. The capital campaign builds on more than 9,500 hours of volunteer time over the past 10 years to make the project a reality.

Grand Rapids, Minn. – June 5, 2025

The Blandin Foundation has approved a $1.575 million grant to the Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation (GRACF), fiscal sponsor for Free Range Food Co-op (FRFC), to support construction of a full-service, community-owned grocery store in downtown Grand Rapids. The store will serve more than 58,000 area residents and visitors with locally sourced, organic and natural foods.

The store brings to life a vision begun in 2015, when three area residents discussed ways to increase community well-being through easier access to local, wholesome, organic foods and goods.

Since then, FRFC has grown into a grassroots effort with more than 1,200 owner-members who have provided more than 9,500 volunteer hours and $1 million in start-up funding. With leadership from a committed board and support from national cooperative experts, the co-op aims to open the estimated $6.3 million store in 2027.

“The Blandin Foundation’s grant — our largest investment to date, covering about a quarter of the overall project — lays the cornerstone for a community-owned grocery store in downtown Grand Rapids,” said Tom Connolly, board chair of Free Range Food Co-op. “It jump-starts construction and proves that fresh, local food is a shared priority for our area.”

Supporting Local and Regional Prosperity

While the co-op’s new store across from Old Central School will be a noticeable change in the downtown area, the co-op will bring other positive changes to the economy and families across the region.

FRFC will anchor money and jobs locally, through community ownership and management of the business, with a goal of local growers and producers providing at least 15 percent of their products. These efforts help promote community resiliency.

Making healthy, fresh food affordable and easy to buy is another main driver for the co-op. According to a 2024 study by National Co-op Grocers, co-ops offer prices up to 25 percent lower than other food stores. People will be able to shop at the co-op even if they aren’t co-op members. The store will accept SNAP program benefits and offer classes on nutrition and health.

FRFC also will help grow the ecosystem of locally-focused food co-ops in the northern part of the state. Grand Rapids will join Virginia, Bemidji and Duluth as communities with food co-ops. Locally, FRFC has developed strong partnerships with the City of Grand Rapids, area growers, local banks and downtown businesses.

“The food co-op will be a gathering place and educational space, giving working families across our area good food for their tables and good wages in their pockets,” said Linda Gibeau, grants officer for small communities at Blandin Foundation. “It’s an excellent example of how rural people are building their own futures.”

Good Food Builds Good Community

The FRFC grant embodies the values of Charles Blandin, whose vision for the Foundation and the Grand Rapids area centered on self-reliance, sustainability and economic opportunity for workers’ rural communities. The project promotes rural placemaking and community pride by revitalizing downtown Grand Rapids and reconnecting local producers with consumers through a community-owned business model.

“This grant supports a model of economic development that puts ownership and opportunity into the hands of the community,” said Kyle Erickson, Director of Rural Grantmaking at the Blandin Foundation. “It builds not just a grocery store, but a resilient local food system and a welcoming community hub. This is community wealth building in action.”

With construction costs surging more than 40 percent in recent years, community support is core to the co-op’s success. Since last year, the FRFC team has been working toward an initial community fundraising goal of $1.5 million. They also are pursuing additional regional, state and federal funding opportunities.

“The Blandin Foundation grant helps affirm our member-owners’ vision and brings us closer to having a cooperatively owned grocery store for the Itasca area,” said Becky LaPlant, community investment campaign team lead for FRFC. “This investment is not just about bricks and mortar. It’s about people, values and the kind of future we can accomplish together.”

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Free Range Food Co-op – Learn More and Get Involved

For more details about Free Range Food Co-op and opportunities to contribute to this exciting project, please visit www.freerangefood.coop.

Blandin Foundation is a private foundation based in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. One of a handful of rural-based, rural-serving foundations in the country, Blandin Foundation serves rural Minnesota, focusing resources in north-central Minnesota. Our grants, opportunities that connect rural leaders, and policy work build up financial and human capital, so rural Minnesota places can welcome diversity, address injustice, and embrace change to create a sustainable and equitable future.