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Lakes Area Food Shelf in Pequot Lakes
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The good news is that the cupboards of local food shelves remain well stocked and donations are coming in steadily. The bad news is that all of it is needed, and demand is increasing.
The Lakes Area Food Shelf in Pequot Lakes is bustling with activity as volunteers bag groceries, stock shelves and freezers, and serve those who can't afford to buy their own food. They expect to get even busier.
Demand has increased at least 10 percent throughout the year, which Food Shelf Director Don Messick called "amazing." He calls his current level of inventory "adequate" but suggested that could change.
"No, we're not in that bad shape, but we're serving more families every month," Messick said. "I think it's a combination of a lot of things; high gas prices, the economy, and food prices in general are rising."
In 2007, Lakes Area Food Shelf served 3,261 families made up of 9,683 individuals. Some 280,909 pounds of product were given away.
The majority of the stocks at Lakes Area Food Shelf are provided by seven local churches that conduct food and fund drives to keep the shelves stocked. An annual FEMA grant and other grants, when they can get them, also provide resources.
Messick spearheaded the establishment of the food shelf in 1992. Back then they served about 65 families per month, he said. Today, they supply food for about 270 families a month.
"When we started it was more a kind of emergency kind of thing," Messick said, "Now it's sustaining. We see the same people coming in over and over again."
August Mezzenga directs the Crosslake Area Food Shelf, and his experience mirrors that of Pequot Lakes - demand for food up by 10 percent.
Mezzenga said support for the food shelf has been steady, and that cash donations are the most helpful.
"We do better with cash because we can buy the kind of things that people are short of," Mezzenga said. "When people donate food, they don't always give the kind of stuff we need the most."
Messick echoes this latter point. He said people who can't afford food also have trouble buying other common grocery store items, such as laundry soap, paper goods, shampoo, toothpaste and more.
"I remember one time we provided a lady with some laundry soap, and she stopped and said, 'You don't know how much you have helped me,' " Messick said.
The story is nearly identical at the Pine River Area Food Shelf. Director Marie Smith said the increase in people seeking food is trending upward, and rapidly.
"Last month we served 107 families," Smith said. "That was up by at least 10 families from the previous month. It's been going up by that amount just about every month now."
Pine River Area Food Shelf has served 790 households so far in 2008, and served 671 in all of 2007. They have handed out 45,031 pounds of food in 2008, compared to 37,900 in 2007.
Pine River Area Food Shelf is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays. All four hours are busy, said Doris Bohme, who is a food shelf volunteer and also serves as secretary.
"I think one of the biggest reasons we are seeing demand go up is lost jobs," Bohme said. "People are losing their jobs, and there's no jobs to replace them. A lot of the smaller resorts have closed, and I think that was a source for a lot of employment around here."
Area food shelves' hours
Lakes Area Food Shelf in Pequot Lakes is open from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The food shelf in Crosslake is open from 10 a.m. to noon every third Friday.
Pine River Area Food Shelf is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesdays and Fridays.
