By Erik Suchy/Staff Writer PressPubs
Sep 25, 2024
https://www.presspubs.com/white_bear/news/local-food-shelves-face-difficulty-with-financial-donations/article_19860be8-7afb-11ef-a098-c307804c9c76.html
A growing concern is building among the White Bear Lake, Hugo and Centennial food shelves. Financial donations aren’t keeping up with demand, which creates a challenge as they strive to meet the needs of those in the community who are experiencing food insecurity. Now, they are looking to their communities to help turn things around.
At the White Bear Area Food Shelf, Executive Director Perry Petersen said the most significant challenges they faced have risen due to the increased need that followed the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our donations have kept pretty steady for us,” said Petersen. “However, the growth of donations and support has not been able to fill the gap due to the big increase in need. It’s a considerable amount between where we were as an organization to where we’re at now.”
Petersen said the food shelf has seen steady growth in both the number of people visiting the food shelf as well as financial donations for several years. This has led to plans by the organization to open a second location to address the increased need for services. The food shelf’s Community Market, located next to Normandy Park Education Center, opened earlier this year.
However, the food shelf’s increased capacity to serve people has also come at a time when inflation has driven up food prices and the cost of living, which Petersen said has made it harder for people to donate financially to the food shelf. “The gap for us has not necessarily been food donations, but monetary ones that we need for funding and to buy healthy food for our clients,” said Petersen. “We want to encourage people to have access to fresh foods, such as frozen meats, dairy and fresh produce.”
The cost of food has likewise created a sizeable gap in the organization’s budget. Peterson reports that a 24% increase in financial support is needed to help the White Bear Area Food Shelf meet the need for the coming year. “The price of (purchasing) food has shot up more than we anticipated. Our donations have grown incrementally, but not at the rate of the need or the cost of food,” he said.
Hugo Good Neighbors Food Shelf
At the Hugo Good Neighbors Food Shelf, Building Director Chris Dufresne also noted a steep drop in donations over the past two years. “Our financial donations are down 53% compared to how they were in 2022,” said Dufresne. “Food donations for us are also down 34%.” Dufresne noted that, unlike the White Bear Area Food Shelf, the Hugo organization saw decreased need for food due to the financial assistance residents received from the government during the pandemic.
Dufresne also highlighted inflation and the rising cost of food and building expenses as contributing factors to the food shelf’s budget challenges. “What people need to understand is what it takes for a food shelf to operate these days because of the expense of the building,” said Dufresne. “We have electric and utility gas bills, just like everyone else. We’re also finding that because food donations are down, we have to purchase more food.” Dufresne also noted that the food shelf also has had to account for an increase in the cost of labor. “When we started prior to the pandemic, we were at two part-time employees,” said Dufresne. “Since then, we’ve increased to about four to five part-timers.”
Dufresne said he wants to let people know that despite the shortage in donations, the food shelf is here for those who need help. “I want to encourage people to come to us if they need our services,” said Dufresne. “We would like the community’s help during these challenging times. While financial donations are the best way to get the biggest bang for the buck, we still welcome fresh food from those who can donate to us.”
Centennial Food Shelf
Centennial Food Shelf Director Sheri Hanson said their food shelf is experiencing similar difficulties, and highlighted the increase in food prices as the reason for decreased financial donations. “I think a good part of it is how expensive all of our basic needs of groceries have gone up,” said Hanson. “That includes (donors) having to feed their own families, which means they have less to share with charities.”
Like White Bear, the Centennial Food Shelf received an incredibly high number of donations during the height of the pandemic before donations decreased in 2022. “We were amazed at how much money was coming in and how many food donations were coming in,” said Hanson. “In 2022, we saw a drop in financial donations and clientele.”
One reason visits to the Centennial Food Shelf may have dropped is that it is no longer serving as many people outside of the community. Hanson stated that during the pandemic, the food shelf was giving bags of government surplus-type food to those outside their service area in order to tackle food insecurity. “We would give them a basic package, but we wouldn’t give them all of our nonperishable items because we could not keep up with our inventory,” said Hanson. She said the food shelf has returned to focusing efforts in its own service area. “We give them the basics and tell them where they can go in their own area, and keep the items available for those in our community.”
Despite the drop in financial donations, Hanson said that the Centennial community has been very generous with food donations. “Our community is wonderful,” said Hanson. “They come through with donations, food drives and local churches, all of which help bring them in.”
Those interested in making a financial donation to the White Bear Area Food Shelf can go to whitebearfoodshelf.org. Donations to the Hugo Good Neighbors Food Shelf can be made online at hugofoodshelf.org/give/ or by mail to Hugo Good Neighbors Food Shelf, P.O. Box 373, Hugo, MN 55038. Financial donations to the Centennial Food Shelf can be sent online at givemn.org/organization/Centennial-Community-Food-Shelf, or by mail to Centennial Food Shelf, P.O. Box 8, Circle Pines, MN 55014.
