Champlin Mom Founds ‘Blessings Box’ to Help People in Need

A local woman is using the power of social media to help people in need throughout the northwest suburbs.

The most recent person to benefit is a new teen mom.

“This is what we’ve gotten in less than 24 hours and I have double this coming yet,” said Melissa Behrens, pointing to a collection of baby supplies on her front lawn. :So this mom will be fully taken care of by the community, and this is life-saving to a mom like that.”

Behrens is the founder of the Blessings Box of Champlin. It’s a program she founded in 2018 to help families with things like clothing, food, utilities and school supplies.

Melissa Behrens poses with supplies collected on her front lawn for the Blessings Box of Champlin.

Every couple of weeks, she calls for donations on Facebook, and people bring items to her home to help the cause.

“I post frequently the current needs,” Behrens said. “We run what’s called campaigns every two weeks or so where we have a new need. We do drop-off, we can do PayPal donations, Venmo donations as well. I’m willing to pick things up as well and then we get those to those families in need and then move onto the next one.”

To date, Behrens says she’s helped hundreds of families, including people who live in Maple Grove, Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center.

The organization is planning to change its name to the Blessings Box of Minnesota and apply for official 501(c)(3) nonprofit status later this year.

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