The McLeod Emergency Food Shelf has seen a 25 percent increase in usage over the past year.

Marietta Neumann, coordinator, said the local food shelf has served 2,286 households over the past nine months, or about 7,000 individuals since Jan. 1.

In October alone, the food shelf has served 225 families, up 15 families from October 2008.

“And we still have a week to go,” said Neumann on Monday.

And donations of food items to the food shelf “is not keeping up with the demand,” said Neumann. Neumann said the food shelf has had to dip into its cash reserves to keep the shelves stocked.

“Thank God for our cash reserve,” said Neumann. But she also added that the food shelf needs to start replenishing that reserve, and that the food shelf will be sending out letters shortly to organizations and businesses looking for donations.

Typically, Neumann said, the food shelf has used cash donations to buy items such as meat, cheese and condensed milk, and has relied on donations for boxed and canned foods. Lately, the food shelf has been using donations to restock even those items.

“We also need our cash to pay rent and utilities at our sites,” said Neumann. “We can’t very well hand out food on the street corner.”

The food shelf has locations in Glencoe and Hutchinson.

Neumann said there are three big food drives coming up that typically gear the food shelf for its final couple of months of the year – and the busy holiday season.

The Glencoe Boy Scouts will have a food drive Saturday, there will be a food collection at the Winsted Halloween bash Friday and a Hutchinson youth group also will have a collection this week.

And many churches and other organizations make food-shelf drives a tradition in November and December.

But individual donations also are welcome, Neumann said.

For the complete story, see this week’s Chronicle.