Food Shelves Expect More Traffic With End of Pandemic Food Assistance

(KNSI) — Pandemic-era food stamp assistance is ending at the end of the month, leading to increased demand for already stressed food pantries.

This Friday, March 17th, is the annual Catholic Charities Pack the Porches Food and Fund Drive from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and Catholic Charities Emergency Services Program Manager Eric Vollen says it is a critical time of the year as SNAP benefits are ending, the holiday donation boom has run out, and inflation pushed people who had never used a food shelf before to ask for help.

“We are already seeing an increase from 2021 to 2022, especially with first-time visitors. For example, in 2021 we served more than 1.3 million pounds of food to our customers here at the food shelf and in 2022 that increased to more than 1.7 million pounds of food.”

Food shelves need cereal, pasta, and personal hygiene products. The special items for the Easter season are also important.

“We always appreciate Easter hams. It’s also really, really appreciated to be able to provide hams to our customers leading up to Easter during Holy Week. [They] would also be very well received and welcomed.”

In addition to Friday’s Pack the Porches event, there are dozens of area businesses hosting drives in conjunction with the Minnesota Food Share Month campaign. It provides matching funds for donations, making each gift go further to help more people.

Learn more and see which locations are helping out by clicking here.

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