“Last year we gave out over 460,000 pounds. That was over 19,500 people basically came through the doors, 6,800 some odd families,” said SACA director Dave Rudolph. They are able to help their neighbors because of the generosity and support of others. The month of March is an important time for food shelves across the state. That’s when Minnesota Foodshare provides extra help and support to 300 food shelves across the state. “The area food shelves come together with area churches. A lot of area churches get involved with it. Some collect cash or food for area food shelves. Their are foundations that match a percentage of everything we take in so that those dollars go a lot farther,” said Rudolph. RELATED LINKS: Last year, the March Campaign brought in more than 5 million pounds of food and made it to the people who need it most. Dave says that people come to SACA from a variety of backgrounds and because of a variety of reasons. “Medical is a big reason for many people. They have medical bills that skyrocket, some are uninsured. No one is sure what’s going on with health care right now so that can be a big part of it. We have a lot of seniors come in and right now and sometimes we’re the difference between seniors taking there medicine or having enough to eat. Another reason is a lot of people that come here don’t make that much money,” said Rudolph. Beyond food, SACA also operates a thrift store, provides holiday toys, and recently held a job fair to help their clients find better employment. “People are working, they are making $10, $12, $13 an hour, sometimes they are a mom or dad, sometimes their spouses contribute some not. You got 2, 3, or 4 kids, you’re trying to pay rent, you’re trying to feed the kids, you’re trying to put gas in the car, fix an old car maybe, clothes, everything, it just piles up,” said Rudolph. Community food shelves keep looking for ways they can improve and reach more people. SACA has partnered with other area food shelves talk about solutions. In the process, they started delivering food to people who can’t make it to the food shelf. “We collaborated with some of the Anoka County food shelves to form a group called Anoka Can and that is a way for us to figure out ways we can do things more efficiently and combine forces so there’s four Anoka County food shelves with us now and we have what is called Anoka Can Delivers. That’s a senior delivery service for home bound seniors age 62 and above,” said Rudolph. Food shelves always need help to continue their mission. But, thanks to Minnesota Foodshare, during the month of March, all donations and dollars matter more. “We depend on the generosity of people for a lot of food. Somebody like yourself might just bring in a bag of groceries. A church will do a food drive, scouts will do a food drive, some businesses maybe donate some cash or churches donate some cash. We also fundraise during this time, we do our Hops for Hunger, our craft beer fundraiser is also done in March, take advantage of that too,” said Rudolph.
SACA Helps Those in Need
COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. – (March 17, 2017) – Southern Anoka Community Assistance is one of several food shelves in the area, that is constantly battling to keep up with hunger and food insecurity.
