St. Paul -- A Minneapolis nonprofit organization that serves meals to the chronically ill hopes to double its output -- and improve the lives of its clients and volunteers -- by more than doubling its size.
Open Arms of Minnesota broke ground Saturday at the donated site of a 23,000-square-foot building, which will feature a kitchen three times its current size.
Large windows in the main entrance will provide a view of the kitchen, creating a sense that the kitchen is the heart of the building, said executive director Kevin Winge.
"Even in our own homes, where do people meet? The kitchen," Winge said.
The organization launched a capital campaign in May 2007 to raise about $8 million. So far, it has raised $5.6 million in private contributions.
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The organization, which receives about five new client requests each week, will outgrow its building on Franklin Avenue by the end of the year, Winge said.
Bill Kimker, an HIV/AIDS patient and volunteer, will help break ground for the organization he said saved him. Kimker, who lost right-side mobility after a stroke, said he will try not to cry as friends help him with the honorable, yet difficult task.
"It's probably the greatest compliment someone could give me," Kimker said. "They gave me love, support and my dignity back, which I had lost."
The organization has come a long way since 1986, when its founder, Bill Rowe, served meals out of his apartment to five HIV/AIDS patients.
Open Arms extended its services to three other chronic illnesses in 1996: breast cancer, multiple sclerosis and Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS). Today, the organization serves 500 clients per week and expects to deliver 250,000 meals this year.
Winge said clients and the community will benefit from the services the new building will allow, but it is the 1,400 volunteers who may end up benefitting most. Through volunteer work, the organization brings people together and gives them the opportunity to make a difference, he said.
