BURNSVILLE, Minnesota — The Salvation Army's food shelf in Austin, Minnesota helped 359 households last Feb. 2023. Fast forward to Feb. 2024 and the number jumped to 801 households.
"That's a huge increase," said Maj. Cindy Strickler, who, along with her husband, serves as a corps officer for the Austin Salvation Army.
The need in Austin is reflective of what food shelves are seeing across the state.
Minnesotans made 7.5 million visits to food shelves last year, which is double the number from just two years ago.
"The need is greater than ever. The pandemic really did a number on us. We thought that things would get better and while most families are trying to move forward and ahead, the reality is that things have not gotten better financially. The need has actually increased," said Capt. Josh Polanco, general secretary for The Salvation Army Northern Division.
Polanco said inflation has hit families hard.
"We see an average family spending $800 more on just everyday normal bills. They're making decisions between should I pay my rent or should I buy food," he said.
The Salvation Army said they are seeing an increase not just at their nine Twin Cities metro area food shelves but across their 22 locations in Minnesota.
"It's getting tight," said Capt. Anthony Nordan, corps officer at The Salvation Army in Duluth.
According to Nordan, their numbers have doubled from November 2022 to November 2023.
"What's driving part of the need is some of the pandemic-era assistance — the extra money for food stamps, some of the extra funds that were coming in through the federal or state government — have just ended. But if we have gone to Walmart recently, the food prices never went back down," Nordan said.
Because they didn't expect the demand to increase even more, Nordan said they didn't budget for it last year. They're now considering increasing their budget again so they can offer clients a broader selection.
"They're having a tough time just sticking inside that budget because by the end of the month, the pantry's empty. You're talking there's no choice for the client," Nordan said.
Strickler in Austin said they began the year letting clients come twice a month to the food shelf. They are now letting people come every week to get food.
"That really creates a hardship for us because we don't receive the amount of food that we give out. So we have to purchase from the local food bank and also the stores around Austin," Strickler said.
Locations like Austin and Duluth are holding their own food drives as part of the Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign.
Strickler said they are in need of canned meats, boxed side dishes, canned fruits and vegetables, rice and cereal.
"There's this perception that only the poor among us need food shelves. Actually through the pandemic what we've learned is that the working class is now becoming the working poor," Polanco said. "They have to rely not just on one food shelf. There are families that have to rely on two or three food shelves just to make it through the month."
KARE 11 anchor teams are facing off to see who can collect more donations for The Salvation Army.
For those who prefer to donate non-perishable food, KARE 11 will host a one-day food donation collection at our studios located at 8811 Olson Memorial Highway in Golden Valley on Thursday, March 28 from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Donors will receive a free hot chocolate to say thanks.
Tune in for KARE 11 News at 10 on Thursday, March 28 to see which team wins.