Fresh Express Community Outreach
Helping to create a sense of worth and value for people in the St Croix Valley.
Fresh Express Mobile Market
The Fresh Express market on a truck brings basic grocery items to neighborhoods within the city of Hudson WI.
Fresh Express is committed to alleviating food insecurity in the city of Hudson. Fresh Express groceries are obtained through the generosity of individual and corporate donors. Grocery inventory varies, and some products may have limited quantities and availability.
Fresh Threads Express
The goal of Fresh Threads is to meet clothing needs with dignity, to encourage those around us, to network with those in the community for a better good, and use the resources we already have. Recycle and upcycle! No waste!
History of the Organization
Fresh Express Community Outreach, Inc (FECO) developed as an outreach of Cornerstone Church, Hudson. The idea of feeding our community first started as a small healthy food cart used to feed elementary children on their way to Willow River Elementary School. The church congregation desired to do more with food outreach and the COVID pandemic showed them that there was a real need for this service.
On July 17, 2020, we picked up our first load of rescued food from County Market and distributed it at the church. We partnered with Mt. Zion Lutheran Church and each Friday, rotated the food distribution location between the churches. With the winter weather and the desire to build an efficient program, Cornerstone Church offered to permanently host the weekly distribution.
Our next big idea came when Pastor Eric had a spark of inspiration to buy a city bus from Eau Claire, WI, clear it out to make room for food, and rev it up to create a mobile food distribution to reach the heavily populated areas of our community with economic needs. As we saw the need for more food staples and hygiene items, Pastor Eric connected with the United Way/St.Croix Valley Food Bank to obtain additional food pantry resources.
It was during a mobile food event that inspiration struck again. We had a desire to end food insecurities within our communities, and had a desire to remove clothing insecurities as well. Not too long afterwards, we acquired a fire truck for the food distribution and refashioned the city bus as a clothing boutique. With our mobile outreach programs in full gear, we purchased a third vehicle, “The Cow” truck, to refrigerate our produce.
Our food services include a: Mobile Food Market; Daily Mini-Market; Friday Food Market; and Pop-Up Food Markets. Through our clothing program we are able to provide clothing for men, women, and children at a suggested donation price of $1/item, and also run a “Bus Bucks” promotion to enable those in need of clothing to shop for free. The revenue from our clothing program directly supports our food distribution program.
As our outreach programs kept expanding, we realized the benefits of creating a separate nonprofit to enhance the way we provide our services. In February 2022, FECO was launched to allow us to keep growing to meet our stated mission to remove barriers of food and clothing insecurities within the community and create a sense of worth and value for each individual we serve.