FoodShare campaign matches donations

Food shelves in the Twin Ports and throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin are getting a lot of use, and officials are hoping contributions will keep coming in.

Minnesota FoodShare, a statewide initiative for food shelf donations, is promoting its March Campaign, a program which contributes more than half of all the food distributed by 300 shelves around the state.

The campaign, in its 31st year, provides proportional matching

donations to organizations statewide. The goal this year is to raise $1

million in donations by the end of April.

Second Harvest distributes supplies to 35 food shelves in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. The organization has reported a major uptick in users, a 92 percent increase since 2008, making the campaign crucial for local shelves.

“Our food bank and our region’s food shelves are experiencing use that they have never experienced before,” Shaye Moris, Second Harvest’s executive director, said in a news release. “It is putting greater demand on our non-profit agencies which of course means that we need more food and funds to meet this increased demand.”

More than 547,000 Minnesotans received food support in October 2012 and the number of children eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has increased 150 percent since December 2006, making children the fastest growing population of SNAP participants in the state, according to Minnesota FoodShare.

Additionally, the three main programs of hunger relief in Minnesota — food stamps, food shelves and subsidized school lunches — all saw record levels of use in 2012, the organization said.

“We can all play a role by donating our time, food and money,” Dr. Jacob Gayle, vice president of Medtronic Philanthropy and honorary chair of this year’s campaign, said in a statement. “Together, we can help ensure that our friends, families and neighbors are not hungry, which in turn allows them to contribute positively in school, on the job and

in our community.”

For more information on the March Campaign, visit www.mnfoodshare.

gmcc.org.

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