CAER is a non-profit, 501 (c) 3 organization, located in Elk River MN and serving Elk River, Otsego and Zimmerman families in need of emergency food assistance. CAER was founded in 1979 as a vision of the local ministerial association. Churches, schools, youth groups, civic organizations and businesses have joined hands in a wonderful community effort to help those in need. The CAER food shelf is managed by dedicated staff members and a volunteer Board of Directors.
Mission Statement: CAER provides food and referrals or limited finanical support for basic neccessities to people in our community.
Vision Statement: Hunger is no longer a barrier to the health and well-being of people in our community.
Core Values:
CAER has its foundation in Christian outreach and maintains a strong partnership with faith based organizations.
CAER strives to build collaborative relationships with individuals, businesses, civic organizations and other non-profits in order to better serve our clients and our community.
CAER practices good stewardship of food and financial resources to ensure the greatest benefit.
CAER provides a welcoming environment that respects the dignity of all people.
CAER promotes volunteerism at every level of the organization.
CAER employees, directors, and volunteers consider it a privilege to serve our clients and our community.
CAER - 2010 Annual Report
Get all the facts and figures for CAER's work in 2010. You'll find interesting tidbits including: "In 2010, CAER distributed almost 590,000 lbs of food. Pounds of food may be a number that is hard to wrap your head around, but consider this, our distributed food is valued at $1.70 / lb . This is equal to $1,003,000."
Download the full report by clicking the PDF document to the right.
Stay connected with CAER! Get the latest news, information about upcoming events, and notes from CAER's director, Jenny, by subscribing to the CAER Connections Newsletter. Look for it quarterly as we attempt to keep everyone apprised of what is going on at CAER. To download the current newsletter, simply click the PDF document to the right.
Looking for a fun and easy way to help CAER food shelf that won't cost you a dime? If so, then check out Squidoo where you can earn money for CAER by writing about your interests. We've got several people from all over the world (including Australia) that are contributing all or portions of their earnings directly to CAER each and every month. In fact, our small group of writers donated nearly $7,000 to CAER in 2010. Join the cause to fight hunger today!
What The Heck is Squidoo? Squidoo is the popular publishing platform and community that makes it easy for you to create "lenses" online. Lenses are web pages, kind of like flyers or signposts or overview articles, that gather everything you know about your topic of interest--and snap it all into focus. Like the lens of a camera, your perspective on something. Write and share pictures about your garden, your latest trip, Christmas gift ideas, crafts for kids, how to grow the best tomatoes, your favorite casserole recipe or ???? That is the great thing about Squidoo, you write about whatever interests you!
How do I make money for CAER? Squidoo is FREE to join and you don't need to know any programming languages to make a page. Once you've created a page (lens), you earn money by displaying Google adwords and recommending products on your page through programs with Amazon, eBay, CafePress and more. Squidoo keeps track of your earnings and will send the money directly to your designated charity (CAER) at the end of each month. Get Started Today! Be sure to watch the step-by-step video after you sign up.
P.S. Got questions or need help on Squidoo? Just contact our resident expert via her Squidoo lensmaster account. She'll be happy to help!
FOR DONATIONS
CAER gladly accepts donations of food, products & seasonal clothing during our business hours:
M-W-F 10 a.m.-3 p.m. M & Th night 6-8 p.m.
Just ring the doorbell near the garage door & someone will help you.
Please limit clothing donations to 3 bags of seasonal items.
**Urgent means that the food shelf is very low or out of stock on these items. We are currently unable to purchase the items so without donations, families will not receive them.
We accept any unopened, current-dated, non-perishable food items. Please check with staff if you have perishable donations.
CAER is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit. All contributions are tax deductible (as allowed by law).
