by April Scheinoha
Reporter
The Thief River Falls Area Food Shelf is seeing the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
In March, the Food Shelf served 975 people. A total of 301 were new people who had just registered for services that month.
The need is so great that the Food Shelf is now distributing food on Saturdays. Food is distributed Tuesdays from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Thursdays from 3 to 6 p.m.; and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Food is distributed at the Food Shelf, 16330 150th St. N.E. The Food Shelf is utilizing a drive-through approach. People only need to drive up, provide their name and address, provide their age, and provide the ages of anyone else in their household receiving food. Clients only need to be Minnesota residents. Clients are reminded to notify staff and volunteers of any allergies or special dietary needs.
Executive Director Alecia Hunt reported that the Food Shelf is maintaining its stock of food. The Boy Scouts recently completed its Scouting for Food campaign, which provided a substantial amount of food to the Food Shelf. The Pennington County Salvation Army has donated diapers for every distribution. The Knights of Columbus are also helping by delivering food to homebound clients. The Food Shelf also distributes commodities, such as pre-packaged cheese, milk, butter and beans, to seniors ages 60 and older through the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Even though the Food Shelf is keeping up with demand at this point in time, it needs volunteers and donors. Those interested in volunteering need to be 18 or older. To volunteer, call 684-4097 or message the Food Shelf’s Facebook page.
The Food Shelf is also accepting donations at this time. Minnesota FoodShare has extended its March match program through Thursday, April 30 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. As part of the match, the organization provides additional funding based on the amount of money and pounds raised by the Food Shelf during the campaign.
True North Chiropractic Center is collecting both monetary and food donations for the Food Shelf. For information on the monetary donation program at True North Chiropractic, log onto its Facebook page. Food donations may be placed in a drop box outside of the business, 205 Brooks Ave. N.
To donate money directly to the Food Shelf, send a donation to Thief River Falls Area Food Shelf, P.O. Box 802, Thief River Falls, MN 56701.