Photo: Cook County Ruby's Pantry Facebook page

By Laura Durenberger-Grunow - Boreal Community Media - April 1, 2026

Yesterday, the regional faith-based food distribution organization Ruby's Pantry announced a sudden closure, ending a 20+ year program overall and 11 years of local distributions that provided affordable food bundles without income requirements in Cook County.

According to a statement on Ruby's Pantry website, the organization said that they will "end the operations of Ruby’s Pantry effective immediately" at all sites, including the one in Grand Marais.

According to the Cook County Ruby's Pantry Leadership team, volunteers, and participants, the announcement came as a surprise. 

In the statement from Ruby's Pantry, released March 31, the organization said:

"Over the past several months, we have been thoughtfully realigning the work, structure, and focus of Ruby’s Pantry to ensure our mission remains at the center of everything we do. As part of this process, we have worked to better align community needs with our goal of operating in the most effective and seamless way possible. As a result, we have decided to end the operations of Ruby’s Pantry effective immediately. We recognize that this is difficult news to receive and do not take this decision lightly."

On March 15 and 18, 2026, two separate distribution sites in Wisconsin shared letters from Ruby's Pantry Executive Director RoxAnn Sahr on Facebook, indicating that the organization was preparing to raise the price of individual shares from $25 to $30 beginning April 1, 2026, citing rising costs of transporting and distributing food. 

Specifically, it said: 

" Due to rising costs involved in transporting and distributing food across our many locations, the Ruby’s Pantry Board has prayerfully made the decision to temporarily increase the suggested guest donation from $25 to $30 per bundle beginning April 1, 2026. This decision was not made lightly. Our desire is always to keep Ruby’s Pantry accessible while also ensuring that we can continue serving families and communities for years to come. Even with this adjustment, our goal remains the same — to provide a large amount of food at a value far greater than the suggested donation."

The organization then announced on March 22 via its Facebook page that an individual who formerly held the receptionist role at the main office had "stepped into a new position" as a Food Sourcing Assistant. While the announcement did not specify whether the role was paid or volunteer, a 2025 Glassdoor job listing for the same title indicates that, in the past, the role had been a paid staff position responsible for securing food supplies.

On March 27, Ruby’s Pantry announced the postponement of several distributions at different locations and said it would provide an update on its Facebook page. 

On March 31, a notice was sent to local coordinators, posted on Facebook, and later on the main Ruby's Pantry website, stating that the organization had decided to end operations effective immediately.

The program in Cook County celebrated its 10th anniversary in May 2025, having distributed over 24,400 food shares since it began in 2015. The journey began when the Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church took on the leadership and sponsorship of the local pop-up. 

The Cook County distribution was available to "anyone who eats," unlike other food shelves, which require participants to meet specific income requirements. This made it one of the few food programs in the area accessible to all community members, regardless of financial status.

Following the March 31 announcement, the Cook County Ruby’s Pantry Leadership Team posted on its Facebook page confirming they had heard other distribution locations in our region were closed, effective immediately, but the future of the Grand Marais site was not clear. Specifically, "Our site may also be cut, or Ruby's Pantry may not be operating. We have not, to our knowledge, received the same email that others have received."

Additionally, the post shared that their primary contact at the corporate office was no longer with the organization as of the same date. 

Shortly thereafter, another post clarified there would be no more Tuesday distributions and expressed gratitude to the volunteers who sustained the program for more than a decade.

While it's not clear what the closure means for the future locally, the Leadership Team had already begun meeting with the Cook County Food Network System in 2025 to work on creating a system that will better serve the community's need for healthy food. Earlier that year, the Leadership Team announced that the program was at risk due to declining participation, falling below the minimum share orders required by the main Ruby's needed for delivery.

Boreal Community Media reached out to Beth Kennedy, one of the local Ruby's Pantry Leadership Team members, who confirmed that most of the people who had been involved with the distribution are also connected with the Cook County Food Network System, which "aims to connect organizations and engaged, caring community members who are working towards a sustainable, equitable, and more connected local food system through information sharing, opportunity identification, and promoting collaboration." Kennedy shared that the group would begin discussing the local impacts of Ruby's Pantry's abrupt ending.