Community need has increased as donations decrease
Although donating to food shelves is important all year, a bigger incentive is in store in March, said Nancy Anderson, executive director of Falls Hunger Coalition.
“The more that we raise on a local level, which always stays to help local people, the larger our portion of Minnesota FoodShare allocation funds that we get,” Anderson said. “The importance of it comes from knowing that you’re helping your friends and neighbors with the confidence that your donations go to local people.”
All donations to Falls Hunger Coalition or the local Salvation Army’s emergency food pantry through March 31 will generate funds from Minnesota FoodShare’s annual March campaign. Minnesota FoodShare is a statewide organization that matches a percentage of funds donated in March to food shelves across the state.
With more need in the community and a decrease in donations, Anderson hopes this year’s March incentive will encourage more donations and prepare the food shelf for the summer months, when the food shelf typically gets almost no donations, she said.
“As we prepare for spring and summer, when our donations go down to almost nothing, we hope to be better-stocked for that time of year,” Anderson said.
Carmen Christenson, administrative assistant for the International Falls Salvation Army, which has an emergency food pantry, said she sees the same trend as the Falls Hunger Coalition.
“The need has gone up, and has remained high for about a year now,” Christenson said.
The Falls Hunger Coalition has set a goal of 60,000 pounds of food or dollars in donations this month. The Salvation Army’s food pantry has not set a goal, but has events scheduled this month in an effort to draw donations.
Depending on how many pounds of food or dollars are donated, Minnesota FoodShare will provide a percentage of funding to stretch local donation s of food or money further.
“People always want to know the percentage that we’ll get, but we don’t ever know before it happens,” Anderson explained. “It’s based on what Minnesota FoodShare is able to raise, how many food shelves in the state choose to participate, and how much each food shelf raises.”
‘Keeping afloat’
The Falls Hunger Coalition has seen between 10 and 14 new households using its services each month over the past year-and-a-half, Anderson said.
“We’ve been keeping afloat,” she said. “But our poundage has not changed much; it hasn’t gone up dramatically as much as our number of clients.”
Added to the dilemma is the food shelf running out of staple food items, she said.
“There have been times when we’ve been out of a staple item — cold cereal, macaroni and cheese, meals in a can — for a prolonged period of time,” she said. “It’s a matter of not having as much product available — we don’t have as much on the shelf for them to pick from. Donations have decreased and we’re running out of certain standard products on a regular basis. And we’ve been in that kind of spot for the past year-and-a-half.”
Falls Hunger Coalition is a client-choice food shelf, she added, which means clients only take home what they select, which prevents waste because clients pick what they know they will use, Anderson said.
Emergency food shelves like Falls Hunger Coalition and the emergency food pantry at the Salvation Army provide a three-to-five-day supply of food for clients each month.
Statewide, visits to food shelves increased by 62 percent from 2008 to 2010, according to statistics from Hunger Solutions.
Monetary donations are more useful to food shelves compared with food donations, because food shelves have access to food banks where they purchase food at less than retail prices: $5 in donations to a food shelf used at a food bank can generate $20-$25 in groceries sold at retail prices, Anderson said. The two local food shelves use North Central Second Harvest in Grand Rapids, and also purchase locally when they are able, she added.
When donating food, Anderson reminds the public that people who use the food shelf “enjoy the same sorts of food that everyone else does.”
“If you focus on appetizing and healthy foods that you serve your own family, those are the type of foods the food shelf needs,” Anderson said, adding that the food shelf accepts all types of food donations, perishable or not, such as cheeses, meats and produce. Those foods can be stored in the food shelf’s freezers and refrigerators, she said.
Donations can be dropped of at Falls Hunger Coalition, located in the Forestland Annex building’s lower level, at 1000 5th St. The Salvation Army accepts donations dropped off at its building at 1301 3rd Ave. W.
Local matching
Border State Bank in International Falls will match up to $1,000 for food drive donations dropped off at the bank this month. The donations will be provided to the Falls Hunger Coalition.
The bank’s annual food drive, called Partner for a Purpose, will match $1 for each pound of food donated, or the same for each dollar donated. Those donations will in turn be increased again by Minnesota FoodShare.
“It’s a win-win for everyone,” said Mary Bigler, consumer officer at the local Border State Bank, the main organizer for the bank’s annual food drive. “It generates more of a donation.”
Each year, the bank has reached its goal to collect enough food or funds to be able to match the maximum amount of $1,000, she said. The slogan for this year’s effort at the bank is “we can all get by with a little help from our friends.”
“We’ve had great support from the community, and I’m sure more will come,” Bigler said.
Donations can be dropped off at the bank located at 1414 Highway 71.
Fund raising efforts
The Salvation Army held a movie day last weekend at Cine 5 in which the admission cost was a donation of a non-perishable food item.
The organization is also facilitating food drives through West End Elementary School and Falls Elementary School. Students at Falls Elementary are participating in a classroom challenge, and the class that raises the largest number of pounds of food donations will be awarded with a pizza party or ice cream party, Christenson said.
A live auction in which all funds will be donated to the Salvation Army’s food pantry will be held at Union Hall at 10 a.m. March 24. The Salvation Army is currently taking gently used household items or furniture to sell at the eighth annual auction.
Christenson and Anderson added that efforts throughout the community are being made this month through local businesses, schools and other organizations.
“We had some peak and wonderful donations prior to 2008, when the economy was getting a little tighter for everyone,” Anderson said. “So we’ve been trying to squeak back up and increase the goal for donations every year.”
