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MN food shelves saw record number of visits in 2023
Hunger Solutions Minnesota says there were 7.5 million visits last year, a 32% increase from 2022.
MINNESOTA, USA — The number of Minnesotans getting help from food shelves is at a record high, according to Hunger Solutions Minnesota.
The group that tracks hunger trends released new data on Wednesday showing more than 7.5 million food shelf visits in 2023, a 32% increase from 2022.
Hunger Solutions Minnesota Executive Director Colleen Moriarty said inflation, the end of COVID-19 relief funds and stagnant wages are also putting a pinch on food shelf budgets.
“My first reaction is, of course, a protective one,” said Moriarty. “How are the shelves going to continue to meet the needs?”
For 15 years, Bountiful Basket Food Shelf has served Carver County, including Chaska. Its executive director, Patti Sinykin, says it experienced unprecedented demand in 2023.
“We’re seeing teachers, doctors, paraprofessionals, construction workers, line workers, whoever, and I can’t tell you how many people say, I just got back from my second job and I’m glad that I’m here,” said Sinykin.
The food shelf helped about 5,604 people in 2023, nearly double from the year before when it served 2,946. There’s little to no requirement needed to access the help there.
“We do our very best, really, to be welcoming to everybody,” said Sinykin.
That includes transforming the space to make it more shopper-friendly from the layout to more culturally appropriate food and signage in multiple languages. Sinykin also said there’s a focus on putting health and wellness first.
“We might be seeing a new normal of people who literally can’t make it through the month without visiting a food shelf,” said Moriarty. “We keep trying to really leverage every resource we can to be able to get that to people.”
There are about 400 food shelves in Minnesota. The resource took off in the 1980s and was considered a temporary solution back then, but not anymore.
“It can fill a basic need and we want it to reduce barriers and make it easy for people to receive the food assistance,” said Sinykin.
Bountiful Basket buys about half of its food from local wholesaler, Second Harvest Heartland. The rest is rescued from local grocery stores and collected during community food drives. But Sinykin says she will have to buy certain items from the grocery store to supplement certain needs.
“Our food budget is up like anybody else, but I’m telling you, as quickly as it comes in, it is out,” said Sinykin.
Experts think the numbers may start to go down later this year if inflation does and as more families benefit from the free school meals the legislature approved last year.
To find help near you or to call the Hunger Solutions Minnesota helpline, click here.
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“It’s amazing how well and good the people are helping out,” volunteer Connie Guinn said.
ELK PARK, N.C. — It’s still difficult for Mike Ellenburg to see the damage Helene left in Elk Park, North Carolina.
“Never in my lifetime, no I have not,” Ellenburg, Fire Chief at the Elk Park Volunteer Fire Department, said. “We had to bring in heavy equipment and open the road up.”
The storm left homes destroyed, trees toppled and cars flipped. It’s left roads near rivers and creeks nearby unrecognizable.
“Used to be a paved road, houses on both sides,” he said. “They’re gone.”
“You’ll see some vehicles down here that are sideways, and they’ll have spray paint on ’em,” Ellenburg continued. “Marking that that vehicle has been checked and that nobody was inside of it or around it.”
Ellenburg says he believes there are four areas around Elk Park in a similar state, damaged and difficult to get into. Despite that, help is still coming, both from the town and the rest of the state.
“We’re just trying to get it organized,” Connie Guinn, a volunteer said, standing in front of pallets of food and water. “Because we can’t find nothing, and neither can anybody else.”
Donations have continued to arrive at the Elk Park Volunteer Fire Department. Ellenburg says some have even come from around the country.
Other agencies, like the Dallas, North Carolina volunteer fire department, have also arrived to help where they can.
“It’s amazing how well and good the people are helping out,” Guinn said.
Ellenburg says it will take time to rebuild their community, but it’s made easier to get through with neighbors like theirs.
“I would only say that I don’t want to live anywhere else but here in Avery County, North Carolina,” he said.
The marathon was canceled because of the heat last year.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Thousands gathered at the Capitol to join in on the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Weekend festivities.
Among them were Noah and Madeline Bleeker, running with their parents at the KARE 11 Family Mile. Noah in particular was rather excited.
“I’m super fast,” he said.
His sister, not so much.
“I just don’t like the part when you get really sweaty,” said Madeline. “I just don’t like that part.”
Either way, they are certainly happy for the weather this year.
Craig Fiedler signed up for his first marathon last year. He flipped through photos on his phone capturing the chaotic day.
“Here I am in the morning with a cup of coffee ready to go,” he smiled. “Then at 5:30 in the morning, I got the email it had been canceled.”
He decided to run it anyway, but he’s excited to cross the finish line this year officially.
“It will be a victory lap,” he said.
Dean Orton is the president of Twin Cities in Motion, the organization behind the marathon. He’s predicting great running conditions.
“It’s great to see it all come together,” he said.
The marathon begins at 8 p.m. tomorrow.
Staff at Temple Israel in Minneapolis told police they received several phone calls from the individual on Sept. 11.
MINNEAPOLIS — On Friday a man was arrested for terroristic threats nearly a month after Minneapolis police received several phone calls threatening a local synagogue.
On Saturday, Oct. 5, Minneapolis police announced in a press release that a 21-year-old man was arrested and booked into the Hennepin County Jail for terroristic threats.
Police said this arrest was related to several phone calls on Sept. 11. Staff members told officers they got the calls from a person who threatened to “shoot up” Temple Israel. An investigation began immediately, officials said.
An officer providing a special security detail around the Temple was notified on Oct. 3 that a man was seen outside with a firearm. Officers said the man fled the area before police could arrest him.
Officials said the man spotted at the temple was the same man who made the threatening phone calls.
Members of the Southside REACT team found the man and arrested him for terroristic threats, police said.
“Everyone in Minneapolis has the right to feel safe in their communities, and we will ensure our Jewish neighbors are protected as they celebrate the holy days,” Chief O’Hara said in a statement. “We take all threats made against our religious institutions seriously, and will continue to hold the individuals accountable who threaten any of our city’s houses of worship. I am incredibly grateful for the work of investigators in this case for quickly responding to the threats and likely preventing a tragedy from occurring.”
At the beginning of September Chief O’Hara announced Minneapolis police would provide more security near Jewish synagogues for both the Jewish holy days and the anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.
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The Jewish High Holidays include Rosh Hashanah, beginning before sundown on Wednesday, Oct. 2, and ending after nightfall on Friday, Oct. 4 and Yom Kippur, beginning before sundown on Friday, Oct. 11 and ending after nightfall on Shabbat, Oct. 12.
