For some, donations are barely keeping pace with demand

by Erin Johnson
Thisweek Newspapers

Food shelves in Eagan and Burnsville have seen a dramatic increase in demand this year as more and more families struggle to make ends meet in a tough economy.

Even as demand has grown, supplies are often merely holding steady, and many food shelves are struggling to keep up.

The Family Resource Center at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Eagan is a food shelf and education resource center that has seen a “tremendous” increase in use, said Ed Janke, who manages the food shelf.

In January of 2007, the food shelf served about 77 families, he said. By January 2008, that number had increased to 180 families.

For the past seven months, the food shelf has been serving about 300 families and giving away 27,000 pounds of food each month, he said.

And it is just barely meeting the demand.

“We haven’t really missed a beat, but it’s been very, very close,” Janke said. “It’s almost bare all the time.”

The Mt. Calvary food shelf receives donations from 21 area churches, local schools, Boy Scout troops, and individuals – in addition to a budget from Mt. Calvary church – and it still needs more, he said.

“We get contributions from all over the place, but it’s just not quite enough. We’re just making it,” he said.

Janke said that no matter how much peanut butter and jelly they stock, they always run out. He recently bought 15 cases of canned spaghetti that was gone within one day.

“It’s unbelievable the amount we go through,” he said.

About 60 percent of the Mt. Calvary food shelf’s users come from Eagan, he said, while about 30 percent come from Burnsville. The other 10 percent comes from surrounding communities.

Janke said he’s served many first-time families who never thought they would need to use a food shelf.

Whether they were just laid off or are simply having a hard time making ends meet, “everybody’s got a different story,” he said.

The Fruit of the Vine Food Shelf at South Metro Vineyard Church in Burnsville has seen similar demand.

In the past year, the number of families it serves has increased by 357 percent. More than 600 families came through the door in August alone, said Beth Krzykowski, administrative assistant at Vineyard Church.

“It’s still increasing. Those are just statistics from August,” she said. “In October we had more than 200 families every week.”

Fruit of the Vine Food Shelf gets most of its supplies through Second Harvest, which charges only16 cents per pound of food. Donations of money come from its 275 members, as well as business and community groups.

Unlike many other area food shelves, Fruit of the Vine is not struggling to keep up with demand, Krzykowski said, and it doesn’t expect to have any problems keeping up in the future.

“We’re preparing for it to get busier,” she said. “If that’s the way the economy is going, then we have faith that we can keep up with this demand.”

The food shelf at Mt. Calvary is not affiliated with the Community Action Council, an umbrella social-services organization serving Dakota and Scott counties. Since it is not affiliated with CAC, donations can be brought directly to Mt. Calvary at 3930 Rahn Road in Eagan. For more information, visit www.mtcalvary.com.

The Fruit of the Vine Food Shelf at South Metro Vineyard Church also operates independently and accepts donations at its location at 13798 Parkwood Drive in Burnsville. For more information, visit www.southmetrovineyard.org.

Erin Johnson is at eagan.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.