As president of the Annandale Food Shelf for over 17 years, I usually sit down about this time and reflect on how well our food shelf has served our communities. I also reflect on how I am much more fortunate that many and really don’t know why the Lord has blessed me in such a way. I am a colon and prostate cancer survivor; have my great sole mate Jean, four healthy daughters, their husbands and six grandchildren. I am fortunate.
This summer made me realize how thankful I should be. In July, I had to have my Achilles tendon reconstructed and was immobilized through September. I wasn’t allowed to put any weight on my bad leg and went through times of self-pity, woe is me. Once able to get around on a knee scooter or an electric cart, in the big box stores it really sank in that my immobility was short term compared to others. Sure, I missed a great summer but there will be more I can enjoy without being confined to a chair.
Once I was able to get around on a store’s electric cart, I saw the world from a totally different perspective. Some people treated me like I was invisible. Very seldom did anyone come to my assistance when I was struggling to get something off a shelf just out of reach.
From now on when I see someone in an electric cart, I promise to assist them if I can. I believe some people see the handicapped but look past them for some reason. Maybe just too busy.
Don’t just pass by
So what has this got to do with the Annandale Food Shelf you might say? A lot. We obviously can identify the handicapped in need of assistance but many of us just pass by.
But how do you identify a hungry person? It isn’t so easy. If you were to come to the food shelf and people watch it would be hard to recognize the hungry. Many come in neatly dressed, well-groomed and driving a reasonably nice vehicle.
They appear to be healthy while others may be obese or lack good grooming. However, I have friends who fit all the same descriptions and they clearly are not hungry. What I am saying is that it is difficult to identify with hunger.
What we don’t know is their special circumstances and why they are in need of a food shelf. They may not have a health plan, recently had surgery and had to pay out of pocket. Or they could have lost a job and cannot find a better one because they lack education or special skills and have nothing to fall back on.
However, we cannot judge them – they are in need of food. The majority of our clients are the working poor, not the welfare recipients as you might think. Our job is to feed the hungry regardless of why they are at our food shelf.
Many of us who work at food shelves want to wipe out hunger in Minnesota. That is commendable, but not realistic in this day and age. We need to focus first on what is doable.
I am of the belief that donating for the needy should start in one’s own community and when we are convinced we have conquered the problem then we can reach out to the world. We must look after our own first.
I know you wouldn’t let your children go without in order to help others. Social media does a tremendous job at pulling at our heart strings to feed the hungry in other parts of the world. They do an excellent job of showing us how we can help. Here at home we don’t have the luxury of spending money to crank someone up for their donation.
The growth of the food shelf
We can show you living proof of what has been accomplished since 2000 in our communities of Maple Lake, Annandale and South Haven, better known as the Annandale and Maple Lake School districts. I think it is important to give you a timeline of all we have accomplished.
In 2000 we gave out 4,500 pounds of food. In 2018 we estimate we will peak at 365,000. Last year we distributed 338,000 pounds and all of this is accomplished by a total of about 60 regularly scheduled volunteers.
In my opinion the best volunteers in the state and probably the nation. So why have we increased so much? The need was always there but we were somewhat reserved about telling people we had hunger issues in our backyard. To reach people we put up a sign, installed a phone and went to the press.
The Advocate was our partner for getting the message out and we never looked back. A normal two hour shift is run by six highly motivated inviduals who work like there is no tomorrow. We have three shifts per week and serve an average of 15 to 18 families or pack about 2,000 pounds per shift. Their salary is no where’s near $15 an hour; in fact not a single person at the food shelf gets paid. You might think the president could get at least a $1 a month. No way, and because we are all volunteers, I honestly believe that is why we do so well in getting donations from the communities we serve. In 2005 we started what we call Senior Delivery to several apartments where the tenants have no means of transportation.
In 2010 we kicked off the school kid’s summer lunch program. This was initiated by Marge Lundeen who recognized when school is out many children were missing their breakfast and lunch. Marge and her colleagues continue to run this program today.
In 2012 we implemented the children’s backpack program partnering with the Maple Lake schools. Later we worked with the Annandale schools in supporting the elementary school with weekend backpack program and the high school with the Cardinal Cupboard where the kids can pack up a bag of food for the weekend.
Turning point
2012 was the real turning point for us. By squirreling money away over the years, receiving a generous grant from the Morgan Family Foundation and the City of Annandale selling us property in Annandale Business Park, we built a state of the art food shelf.
It is designed to receive and distribute food in a most efficient manner. In 2012 when we moved into our new Taj Mahal we reached out to local farmers and individuals to get their excess apples, squash, tomatoes and corn just to mention a few products. In 2014 we volunteered to assist the State with their NAPS program (Nutrition Assistance Program for Seniors commonly known as commodities). We started with 17 clients on a monthly basis and today we are serving 37.
With having space to breath now, we initiated our “Eat healthy” endeavor by having fresh fruits and vegetables in our reception area. While clients are waiting for their computerized client’s choice order to be picked they can select fresh fruit and vegetables which don’t count against their eligible poundage. We call this area, bonus foods. As our clients food needs go up our cost to purchase food has slightly decreased.
Part of this is the shrewd purchasing of our managing director Jean and her partner Nita Cherry. A bigger part of the cost reduction today is the “rescue” food we receive from Target, Walmart in Monticello and the Marketplace right here in Annandale. These great stores are where we receive most of our fresh fruits and vegetables. What a blessing. We invite you to visit us, you will be pleasantly surprised.
I want to thank everyone, all individuals, churches and business for supporting out great food shelf. A special thanks to our volunteers who work like they are turbo charged as our volume goes up. They are the best. We cannot forget Anchor Dock and Lift who have partnered with us for 14 years and donated and gathered huge amounts of money during the Christmas Train event at their customer appreciation party.
To all our readers, we hope to see you at the Christmas train on Wednesday, Dec. 12, and please make a donation if you can, but regardless come out a celebrate the kickoff of Christmas in Annandale. The Lions are more than happy to take your donations.
May everyone have food at their Christmas dinner.
Ed Skomoroh is president of the Annandale Food Shelf. To donate call 274-7155 or visit the website www.annandalefoodshelf.org. The CP Holiday Train will arrive in downtown Annandale about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12.
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