March is the month: Minnesota FoodShare Campaign makes food shelf donations go further – Southernminn.com

There's no better time than the present to donate to the food shelf, because in the month of March, those donations stretch further.

The All Seasons Food Shelf in Kenyon participates in the Minnesota FoodShare program. Donations made in the month of March are used as a guideline when MFS plans its distribution of funds to around 300 food shelves across the state for the coming year.

That's good news for small towns because it supplements the locally donated resources. All Seasons Food Shelf Administrator Beverly Jacobsen said it receives the majority of funding from contributions within and some outside of its service area. She supplements that with grants, some of which, like March FoodShare, match according to the outcomes of a major fundraising campaign.

The food shelf also gets a percentage of sales from the Kenyon Thrift Store to cover overhead expenses such as utilities and salaries.

The ASFS will receive a portion of Minnesota FoodShare food fund dollars based on the pounds of food collected and dollars raised right here in the community. It's not a direct dollar-to-dollar correlation, but it gives the food shelf flexibility when it comes to purchasing and stocking harder-to-get items.

The Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign is an annual program of the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches. It is the largest grass-roots fund and food drive for local food shelves in the state.

Statewide, the March Campaign raised $7.9 million and 5.2 million pounds of food in 2016, the most successful campaign in its 34-year history, according to mnfoodshare.org.

The need is there. By 2015 statistics, 11 percent of Minnesotans and nearly 15 percent of children in the state lived below the poverty line.

All of it, 100 percent, goes toward hunger relief. In fact, every dollar and every pound of food donated to the ASFS stays with and is used by ASFS to serve people locally in the Kenyon, Wanamingo, Nerstrand, Dennison and West Concord area.

The Kenyon service hours are staggered throughout the week on Monday, Thursday and Saturday to provide different access times and therefore reach more people in need. If a family qualifies for other assistance programs, such as the school's free and reduced meal program, they likely qualify for food shelf assistance, said Jacobsen.

In addition to efforts carried out during the rest of the year, local businesses, organizations and churches have plans to do their part this month. The Kenyon Lions donate the proceeds from their soup supper fundraiser to the food shelf. Many churches collect items during Lenten services and earmark those offering donations for the ASFS. The World Day of Prayer service at Dale Church dedicated one-fourth of its offering to the food shelf's food backpack program and collected non-food items (paper products and toiletries) for the food shelf.

The Foldcraft company in Kenyon is in its fourth year of sponsoring a food drive in March in conjunction with the Minnesota FoodShare, according to Julie McGrath, manager of marketing.

Donations may be sent to: All Seasons Community Services, 530 Second St., Kenyon, Minnesota. 55946.

Reach Publisher and Editor Terri Lenz at 333-3148, or follow her on Twitter.com @KenyonLeader

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March is the month: Minnesota FoodShare Campaign makes food shelf donations go further - Southernminn.com