St. Paul Business Owner Turns Restaurant Into Food Shelf

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — At The Gnome Craft Pub in St. Paul, food fills every table in sight, and none of it is for sale.

A group of people recently let go from their jobs in the service industry shuffle through the lines to pick out groceries. A team of volunteers work like an orchestra to create a hum of boxes moving, people greeting and firewood burning on the winter morning. Its conductor is The Gnome’s owner, Brian Ingram.

“If I’m sitting at home and I have a full belly and my community doesn’t, that doesn’t work in our house,” Ingram said.

When the state closed in-person dining, Ingram had to lay off 140 employees, the week before Thanksgiving. Days later, the Gnome reopened, this time as a food shelf.

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