‘I was very well blessed’: Champlin woman pays it forward through ‘Blessings Box’

Melissa Behrens says she’s had more than her share of blessings, most of them surrounding the health of her daughter, Abby, and the kindness of friends and neighbors.

"Back in 2016, my daughter, she was 5 at the time, she’s now 10, got meningitis twice in nine months, and we almost lost her," Behrens recalled. "So many people reached out to help us, we didn’t ask for help."

That same year, she said, doctors discovered Abby had a brain deformity and a mass in her sinus cavity that required surgery to remove.

Behrens was also pregnant with her third child.

Now, years later, everybody in the family is healthy and happy, including Abby.

"We had food and people donated money," she said. "It was just a blessing, and I couldn’t just sit with that, and I wanted to give back and help other people."

To do that, Behrens launched her Blessings Box initiative.

"I honestly think it’s a blessing in disguise for some people, including us," said Sierra Schuett, a Blessings Box recipient from New Brighton. "I think really it’s a really good deed for her to do that."

Filled with donated goods, the Blessings Box is a way for Behrens to pay it forward.

"Literally a tote that collects items," she explained. "Clothing, hygiene items, household items, food items, money donations for families in need."

Behrens started the efforts in November 2018 but since then has expanded it to include a bigger box: a dumpster.

"Folks can come and drop off their items from the house that they no longer want and want to get rid of it and they can pay a fee to us, less than they would pay a landfill," she said.

The fees, which can be paid through a money transfer app, range from $25 for a garage door to $100 for a trailer full of items.

Between donations to a Blessings Box of Champlin Facebook page, a garage sale, and proceeds from the dumpster fees, Behrens said she’s collected between $80,000 and $90,000 to help those facing financial hardship.

The dumpster itself holds all kinds of items, including old furniture, a kid’s swimming pool, even what looks like a kitchen sink.

Behrens said she’s filled up six dumpsters so far, the funds from all her initiatives being enough to provide relief to 200 families.

She said the Facebook page is like a portal, where people can reach her for help.

"I lost my job recently, just everything’s been tough," Chris Matton, Schuett’s boyfriend, said. "It’s nice seeing it now, especially me being 21, being so young and people seeing that I’m struggling and being able to help me, it’s really nice."

"We don’t have to go out and spend the little funds we have for food and rent, or some laundry that we really can’t afford right now," Schuett added.

Behrens calls it "bridging the gap" — helping those who are struggling.

Making a difference with kindness and hope.

"You feel so much better knowing that you helped a family get through a week or a month, or just pay a bill or get food on the table," Behrens said. "And it makes such a huge difference, and we’re in a place where we can do that."