Nov 26, 2008 6:45 pm US/Central
More People In Need Puts Strain On Food Shelves
(WCCO)
-
-
The Emergency Foodshelf Network serves about 200 hunger relief programs throughout Minnesota. They can hardly keep up with the demand. (File)
CBS
Many of people probably forget to be thankful for something as basic food on the table, but some Minnesotans are not so lucky this Thanksgiving. They have to rely on local food shelves to put a meal on their table.
With the bad economy many more people than usual are in need of help. And that's causing a strain on the shelves.
"This is the first time I had to use it. It's really bad out here," said Monica Saunders, who recently lost her job.
With two children to feed she had no choice but to use her local food shelf.
"It basically puts food on my table cause I can't afford to go anywhere else. This is a big help to me," said Saunders.
The people at PRISM (People Responding in Social Ministry) in Golden Valley said Saunders is a typical client. They serve about 400 families per month and that number is growing, causing a strain on the shelves.
"We typically provide about two to two-and-a-half weeks worth of food, we're probably cutting back to one-and-a-half weeks of food right now," said Elizabeth Johnson, the Director of PRISM.
There's about a two-week wait for families to use the shelves at PRISM -- they can't process the families fast enough. The group said they ran into problems this summer.
"We were so low on food we had to limit the number of people coming through our food shelf because we didn't have enough food for everyone," said Johnson.
And things are not looking too good at the Division of Indian Work Food Shelf with mostly bare shelves.
"I will have food on my shelves on a Monday, by Wednesday they'll be gone," said Maren Hardy the food manager with the Division of Indian Work Food Shelf. "This year we've had about a 30 percent increase, I want to say, and it's growing. People can't keep up with the prices at the grocery store."
It's so bad they are not giving out Christmas food baskets.
"They come in and people are just shocked that we can't afford to do that," said Hardy.
The Emergency Foodshelf Network serves about 200 hunger relief programs throughout Minnesota. They can hardly keep up with the demand.
"The increase is about 20 to 30 percent and donations are coming in but on average about one individual will receive about one less meal," said Ted Evans, communications coordinator with the Emergency Foodshelf Network.
For information on several organizations, and how you can donate, click on the links below.
Emergency Foodshelf Network
Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches
PRISM: People Responding In Social Ministry
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Wis. State Offices, DMV, To Close On Monday 43 mins ago
Stumble It!
Reporting
