Area food shelves see increased need

Jun. 13—Area food shelves are experiencing an uptick in need, as families struggle to afford daily necessities with skyrocketing prices on items such as gas and groceries.

"Yes, it certainly has increased," said Niki Schaffer, coordinator for the Waseca Area Neighborhood Food Shelf.

Sara Diel, assistant manager of the ECHO Food Shelf in Mankato, said, "Absolutely," when asked if need had increased locally for families in need of food.

"We have definitely had an increase in new clients," said Andie Kukacka, manager of the St. Peter Area Food Shelf.

Diel said the traffic at the ECHO Food Shelf picked up about two months ago and now "it's steady, with more people coming in each month. We're getting between 80 and 90 households per month needing help."

Kukacka agreed, saying he noticed traffic picking up significantly about six weeks ago. "Pre-springtime our traffic seemed unpredictable," he said, "where some days we'd be doing only three families a day and some 15. Now traffic has increased to where we're doing 12 families a day on average."

Sharon Traxler, director of the Le Center Food Shelf, said traffic there also has been on the rise during the past two months.

In Mankato, Diel said their numbers have doubled and they're now serving more than 100 families a day. In St. Peter, Kukacka said they've seen an increase of 33 percent of people being served, with 131 households served in the last month, or 457 individuals. Pat Milks, director of the Wells Area Food Shelf, said they've served between 60 and 70 families a month, which is more than double the capacity of a year ago in May.

The skyrocketing prices of gas and food have definitely hit area families in the pocketbook, area food shelf leaders say, but another factor in the increased need has been a decrease in county support. Families are getting less on their county-issued food support cards now than they did during the height of COVID-19, Schaffer said.

Another factor in people's strained incomes is the child tax credit ending, Diel said. "When that ended, it started slowly going up," she said of increased food shelf needs. "We started seeing more families and in the past two months it's increased dramatically."

Food shelf directors say cash donations are most beneficial if people are motivated to help those in need. They can stretch donations to provide twice or three times as much food as what the average consumer would spend at a grocery store.

"Food donations are always welcome, but what helps us most is monetary donations," Kukacka said, "because we are able to purchase food at a discounted rate from our suppliers."

"Cash is great," Diel echoed. "We have access to food through the food bank at a better price so we can make those dollars stretch."

If donating food, food shelves are in need of canned goods, dry goods and garden produce. They're also in need of personal care items such as shampoo, body wash and diapers.

Another area of need for food shelves are volunteers. Kukacka and others say they're in dire need of people to volunteer to assist with food distribution and food rescue, which is driving to pick up dumpster-bound food and returning that food to the food shelf.

Traxler encourages anyone needing support to come to the food shelf. "I hope that people who really do need some food will come," she said. "We're here to serve the community."