September is Hunger Action Month and a food shelf coordinator in Minnesota does not see increased demand going down anytime soon.
According to Hunger Solutions, Minnesotans made 7.5 million visits to food distribution sites last year, a record high for the third consecutive year.
Tom Halloran, food shelf coordinator for the nonprofit 360 Communities in Rosemount, said with only four months left in 2024, there has been no change with higher demand at his location.
He noted that recent inflationary pressure gets a lot of attention, but he also sees elevated housing prices pushing people to seek food assistance programs.
“It’s all just very, very apparent, the desperate nature of folks when they come in,” Halloran observed.
Halloran acknowledged that extra support from the state and partnerships with supermarket chains are a big help to hunger relief groups in the region, but he emphasized that additional monetary donations can ease some of the pressure on sustaining current efforts.
Halloran added it may seem like operations like his are constantly asking the public to chip in, but he stressed that now is not the time to tune out the requests.
“Many folks, although right on the edge of catastrophe, are such incredible, hopeful, and deserving people that it behooves all of us to step up and help,” Halloran urged.
He also predicted that many food shelves would continue to see aging volunteers decide to hang them up and hoped this would inspire the next generation to set aside some time to help stock shelves and distribute food to clients.