Our History

The origins of the Fricke Episcopal Food Ministry go all the way back to 1975, when Omahans responded to the community crisis of the May 6 tornado by establishing a food pantry at Trinity Cathedral. The Very Rev. Jack Fricke, Dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Omaha, NE, was an enthusiastic supporter of the pantry and always encouraged other churches to become involved. In 1990, when the pantry was reorganized and Dean Fricke passed away, it was deemed appropriate that the new entity should be named the Dean Fricke Memorial Episcopal Food Pantry. Ever since then, the organization has been a collaborative effort, with representation and involvement from all Episcopal churches in the Omaha area.

In early 2019, when we stopped handling food directly, we began operating as the Fricke Episcopal Food Ministry. We felt the new name better described our refocused effort to make Food Security Grants to agencies that carry out our mission. We retain our IRS tax-exempt status under our original name, which remains our official name as a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.