ST. PAUL, Minn. - If ever there was an ideal time to donate to a local food shelf, it is July. Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless is back with its $100,000 Food Shelf Challenge, which gives grants to local food shelves to leverage local contributions. Around 150 food shelves across the state, from Aitkin to Zumbrota, are taking part in this summer's challenge.
Executive director Arna Yetter says the program is vital, as food shelves - especially in greater Minnesota - are trying to do more with less.
"A large portion of those food shelves don't have any paid staff - they're run strictly by volunteer efforts. They're really scrambling to try try to maximize what they can do."
Among the groups taking part in the challenge is Valley Outreach, Stillwater. Executive director Kate Krisik says her organization gives out around 50,000 pounds of food per month. That's about four times more than just six years ago, she says, and the number of people in need continues to grow.
"Many of them were former donors of ours who have lost their jobs or their homes. Our senior population increased when they lost investment income when the stock market crashed."
Krisik says a boost in donations is especially important at this time of year, with kids out of school. There are no summer feeding programs in Stillwater because the median income is too high, she explains.
"The children aren't receiving the meals that they normally receive at school during the school year. It's also the time of year that people think about donating less often than at any other time of year."
Statewide last year, there were nearly 200,000 child visits to food shelves in July and August alone, 4 percent more than in 2009.
Local food shelf operations participating in the Food Shelf Challenge are listed at www.oyh.org.
Information about how to donate is available at www.HungerSolutions.org During the event last year, food shelves raised more than $1 million from their communities.
As part of the challenge this year, Valley Outreach is hosting a "Parrot Head Party and Cruise" on July 28. Information about this fundraising event is available at http://valleyoutreachmn.org/events.
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Alabama is one of 14 states opting out of the 2024 summer electronic benefit program.
As summer rolls around, there will be no programs in place to help low-income families with grocery costs.
LaTrell Clifford Wood, hunger policy advocate for the group Alabama Arise, said as a result, more than 500,000 children who usually receive free or reduced lunch could go without meals. She noted while summer feeding programs will be available, they will not reach everyone in need.
"Ninety-four percent of Alabama children who rely on free and reduced-price meals won't have access to them over the summer," Wood reported. "That means that only 6% of the children who rely on those meals during the school year are going to be fed through summer feeding programs."
Wood warned limited hours, transportation and strict program rules will hinder many families from benefiting from such vital programs. The Alabama Legislature did not allocate the necessary $15 million for the program by the end of the last session. However, Wood noted there is a chance the program will be funded in the summer of 2025.
As legislators focus on next year's budgets, Wood stressed the need for funding next summer's EBT program. She pointed out Alabama Arise is calling for lawmakers to allocate funds from the general fund or Education Trust Fund to combat child hunger, affecting one in four children in the state.
"This is a program that's been tested for 13 years," Wood emphasized. "It's had three rigorous evaluation periods, and it was shown to improve the diet of children and decrease children's food hardship by a third."
Wood believes prioritizing children's needs and addressing food insecurity is a form of preventive care and serves as an early investment in the state's overall wellness.
The Food Research and Action Center said funding the e-benefits program would also benefit the economy - adding anywhere from $98 million to $117 million. The Alabama Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee is expected to vote on the budget next week.
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California's program helping low-income families buy fresh fruit and vegetables is on the chopping block and health care advocates are asking legislators to save the Market Match program.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed cutting most of the program's $35 million budget to help close the state's budget shortfall.
Sophia Vaccaro, a participant in Market Match from Echo Park, said she depends on Market Match in more ways than one.
"It helps people being able to stretch their budget further," Vaccaro explained. "Then, I think it helps the community, in that it creates a sense of camaraderie at the farmers' market and makes people more invested in the community itself."
The program matches every dollar CalFresh customers spend on fresh fruits and vegetables at a farmer's market up to between $10 and $20 per day. It is active at 294 sites across the state and is partially paid for through federal matching funds.
Dr. John Maa, surgeon at Marin Health Medical Center and board member of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the American Heart Association, said Market Match promotes healthy eating and boosts the local farm economy.
"An improved diet really will have long-term meaningful impacts on health, and also reduce health care costs," Maa explained. "It really helps to sustain the growers and the merchants. I guess it's a win-win-win."
Siu Han Cheung, outreach coordinator for the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation and board member of the Heart of the City Farmers' Market, argued the program is vital to residents across the state.
"If the Market Match will be cut, that is terrible," Cheung stressed. "That means they have less money to buy their food. So, Market Match is very important for the low-income families and the seniors."
Legislators and the governor are working toward the May budget revisions, and must pass a balanced budget by June 15.
Disclosure: The American Heart Association Western States Region contributes to our fund for reporting on Health Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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South Dakotans face high prices at the grocery store and some are working to ease the burden.
A new report from the Federal Trade Commission finds some grocery retailers used the supply-chain disruptions of the pandemic to raise prices and collect bigger profits, even after supply chains regulated.
One South Dakota group is trying to reduce sticker shock by targeting the state sales tax on groceries. Dakotans for Health is sponsoring a citizens ballot initiative to repeal the 4.2 % tax.
Rick Weiland, co-founder of the group, said lower food bills would make a meaningful difference for some.
"People of modest means, or low income hardworking families, disproportionately spend upwards of 30% on food," Weiland pointed out. "This is going to be helpful."
South Dakota is one of only two states in the country to apply its full state sales tax rate to groceries with no exemptions, Mississippi being the other. More than 9% of South Dakotans are considered food insecure, meaning they do not always have access to enough healthy food.
The grocery tax has been a popular topic among state legislators in recent years. Republican Gov. Kristi Noem even campaigned on the promise to repeal it. Critics have said proposing a tax cut without a way to finance it is irresponsible.
Weiland pointed out Gov. Noem had a formula spelled out when she brought forward her bill in 2023, which was voted down.
"She had no problem defending her position in front of the Legislature, in terms of how much revenue the state was going to lose and where they could make it up," Weiland recounted.
The initiative needs about 17,500 signatures by next month to appear on the November ballot.
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