Jill Schramm/MDN Jan Picotte, a volunteer at the Lord’s Cupboard Food Pantry, reaches for a selection from the food shelf for a client at the pantry Monday, Oct. 27.

Great Plains Food Bank has announced the launch of an emergency fundraising campaign to help ensure families across North Dakota and Clay County, Minnesota, don’t go hungry if the federal government shutdown extends past Friday, Oct. 31. The shutdown threatens to pause Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on Nov. 1, impacting more than 48,000 North Dakotans.

The Great Plains Food Bank aims to raise the necessary funds needed to source and distribute an additional one million pounds of food to meet the surge in demand expected in the weeks ahead from local food pantries, including those in the Minot area.

“Our network of 196 partner food pantries, shelters and meal programs are already serving record numbers of people,” said Kate Molbert, interim CEO of the Great Plains Food Bank, in a news release. “Without federal nutrition programs like SNAP functioning, it’s impossible for food banks alone to fill that gap. Our role is to make sure no one faces hunger alone. We will stretch resources as far as possible, get food where it’s needed most, and make sure every family living in rural communities, urban centers and on tribal lands are treated with dignity and compassion.”

Great Plains Food Bank says it is ramping up food sourcing by prioritizing most requested foods like fruits, vegetables, and proteins and expanding mobile food pantry and pop-up distributions in areas hardest hit, including communities with high numbers of federal employees who have gone without paychecks, veterans and working families living paycheck to paycheck.

Paulette Streitz, coordinator at Our Lady of Grace Food Pantry in Minot, said client numbers have risen since the government shutdown. Our Lady of Grace served 149 people in a recent four-day period, and it has included as many as 18 new people on a single day, although often newcomers are one-time visitors.

Streitz said community donations have been good, but prices are high. A recent $5,000 donation went entirely to buy meat.

“It’s just that it’s so hard to keep up,” she said. “I don’t know, if the numbers keep rising, where we’re going to get dollars to feed the hungry.”

The Lord’s Cupboard Food Pantry in Minot also is seeing new faces, although overall numbers of clients have not been on a significant climb, said Gerald Roise, board chairman. The food pantry would consider extending its hours if a lingering government shutdown does cause numbers to shoot up, although there would be concern about wearing out its volunteers, he said.

“Volunteers are so excellent and so dedicated,” he said. “Financially, our gift giving has been great. The food donations have been great. People have been so generous.”

Cyndi Larsen, floor manager at the Lord’s Cupboard, recounted a recent donation given by a new resident in the community, from an Air Force family going unpaid due to the shutdown, who came in with 86 pounds of donated items. She estimated local donations provide 3,000-4,000 pounds of food a month, augmenting the supplies received through Great Plains to be able to serve 400-500 clients a week.

Larsen said the Lord’s Cupboard has clients who use the pantry to supplement their SNAP benefits. If those benefits dry up due to the shutdown, those clients may have to stretch their pantry supplies.

“They just will need more, and I don’t know that we’ll be able to give them more. It will depend on what we can get,” Larsen said.

The Lord’s Cupboard expects a monthly shipment of 14 pallets of food from Great Plains this week, Roise said.

“We’ve been down as low as five pallets and we’ve been up as high as 24, so 14 – we’re satisfied with that,” Roise said.

Lt. Trevor Reed, Corps officer at the Minot Salvation Army, said he hasn’t seen much impact from individuals affected by the government shutdown, but low-income households are struggling.

“Wednesdays, people get food boxes, and last week we served 30 food boxes. So, definitely an increase from previous months,” he said. Day-old bread days that used to bring about 40-50 people are now bringing 50-60, he said.

“It would be nice to see some more community food drives,” Reed said. “Coming up soon, we have our Christmas season. That’s how we get a lot of funding throughout the year to try to help people is through our Red Kettle campaign. We really could use people not only to donate but also to serve time at the kettle because an empty kettle can generate zero bucks but at least an hour at the kettle can be anywhere from $80 to $100.”

Great Plains Food Bank stated it is coordinating closely with state and local partners to monitor the situation facing food pantries and to ensure food access remains consistent for all who need it.

“This is a moment for our community to stand together,” Molbert said in the release. “Every dollar, every donated food item, every helping hand makes a real difference.”

People who want to help can make a financial donation to Great Plains Food Bank or give locally through hosting food drives or by providing needed items and monetary donations.

Jill Schramm/MDN
Corps officer Lt. Trevor Reed at the Minot Salvation Army checks the food pantry supply Monday, Oct. 27.