Call for help spurs renewed support for nonprofit Cedar Rapids grocery store

CEDAR RAPIDS — A plea for help made last week by a nonprofit grocery store in Cedar Rapids has sparked a large response from community members to support the store’s goal of providing food for a neighborhood that would be a food desert if not for its presence.

Cultivate Hope Corner Store, owned and operated by the nonprofit Matthew 25, has been open for just over three years at 604 Ellis Blvd. NW. It’s not a food pantry, although there is a free produce section for those who need it, but all the food it sells is used to fund the operation of the store.

“A lot of our funding to start the store, of course, came from grants and donors,” said Jana Bodensteiner, Matthew 25’s chief development officer. “Then we got a few donors who committed to giving us donations through the first year, and one donor that committed to give donations through the first three years, just to help supplement the revenue that will be coming from sales in the store, but the goal is that we want the store to be self-sustaining.”

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One of the donations the store received was a $300,000 grant from the John and Cindy Family Foundation in October 2023, after the store had been open for about a year and a half. The funds are to be paid out over the course of three years.

Almost two years later, the store is not as close to being fully self-sustaining as the nonprofit had hoped when it opened, and it’s still relying on donor money, Bodensteiner said. That’s what prompted a July 16 Facebook post that asked community members to show their support by buying groceries at the Corner Store.

“It takes a village to keep an independent grocery store going. That’s what keeps our shelves full and our mission strong,” the post reads.

Bodensteiner said the store relies on people from outside the neighborhood stopping by to shop there from time to time, and she has been excited to see the number of people in the store since the post.

“A lot of people think that, because we’re a nonprofit, if they shop in the store, they’re taking something away from people who need support, like you would if you were going to a food pantry,” Bodensteiner said. “That’s not at all the case. It’s literally the complete opposite. We need the volume of customers coming and buying things to hit those revenue targets so we can exist.”

Bodensteiner said the Facebook post is by far the most popular on the store’s page, and the support it spurred has resulted in a noticeable increase in foot traffic at the store, with several shoppers mentioning the post specifically.

“All of a sudden it blew up and got a lot of notice. So, apparently people really do care about us, and we're super excited to see the response it’s gotten,” Bodensteiner said.

Matthew 25 also has been working to provide goods that are needed by people living in the neighborhood. Through a door-knocking campaign, Matthew 25 representatives gathered ideas for how the store can better serve residents.

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One concern that has come up multiple times is the shortage of parking near the store. Bodensteiner said Matthew 25 is working to solve that problem — construction is underway — but she didn’t have a specific timeline for when the store’s new parking lot will open.

The most common feedback the nonprofit heard while talking with neighbors was how grateful the community is to have the Corner Store close by.

“Without our store, that neighborhood is a food desert, and so having such accessible, fresh, healthy groceries is just huge for these folks that live in that neighborhood,” Bodensteiner said.

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