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'I don't see us stopping anytime soon': Volunteers help launch 3rd annual '2 Million Pounds' food drive

Last year, The Salvation Army's record-breaking food drive collected the equivalent of 2.2 million pounds of food.

ROSEVILLE, Minn. — In a room inside the Salvation Army Headquarters in Roseville Wednesday, it's all hands on deck, as volunteers of all ages folded thousands of bags to help kick off the third annual 2 Million Pounds food drive.

"It's a great exercise for a lot of our volunteers," said Major Scott Shelbourn with the Salvation Army. "They've been coming in here for over a week."

Major Shelbourn says the goal is to restock all nine of their metro area food shelves. Last year, the food drive collected close to 2.2 million pounds of food. 

And he says this year, the need is still there.

"5.5 million folks have hit the food shelves in Minnesota last year, so it's a significant increase that's happened in the past and over the pandemic," he said. "And if you add to that this month, the SNAP benefits that most families were receiving stopped today, on March 1," he said.

Major Shelbourn says by collecting 2 million pounds of food, the organization will be able to provide another 1.2 million meals to those struggling with hunger insecurity.

"We're grateful for anyone who comes alongside of us, donates a can or two of food, some money, that's going to go a long way to help a lot of people," he said.

In the end, they're bringing people together for a great cause. 

"Not everybody has food on the table, not everybody has a roof over their heads, so just being able to do our part," said one volunteer. "I don't see us stopping anytime soon."

The initiative goes on until the end of the month. 

To find out where to donate and how to volunteer, visit the link here.

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