Food Shelf Visits Still Increasing in Grand Rapids

Requests for food assistance by people in the Grand Rapids area are up 5% over last year.  Although not the double digit increases we were seeing at this time last year, the need for food for people in crisis continues to grow.  Signs of economic recovery are not appearing for unemployed and low income workers. 

Greenway High School Day of Caring

Today, 20 students and 2 adults worked at Second Harvest in conjunction with the annual Greenway Day of Caring.  The students packed Kids Packs Backpack bags, labeled hundreds of cans of corn and repackaged many bags of macaroni.  Thanks so much to the Greenway High School students for caring about their community and helping end hunger! 

Grand Rapids Letter Carriers Participated in Stamp Out Hunger on Saturday

Thanks to the National Association of Letter Carriers and the Grand Rapids Post Office, more than 5,500 pounds of food was collected on Saturday, May 8th.   The food will go directly to the Grand Rapids Food Shelf and help local people who come for food assistance. 

Stamp Out Hunger Saturday, May 8th

The National Association of Letter Carriers will be collecting nonperishable food items on Saturday, May 8^th along their routes for Second Harvest North Central Food Bank /Grand Rapids Food Shelf. It is the eighteenth annual “Stamp Out Hunger” drive conducted by the National Association of Letter Carriers – the largest one day food drive in the nation. Non-perishable food donations can be placed by your mailbox and a carrier will pick them up for delivery to the food bank. The carriers extra effort each May helps our community and makes it very easy for individuals to donate. Last year the Grand Rapids postal carriers delivered over 8,000 pounds of donated food to the Grand Rapids Food Shelf which was distributed locally to people seeking assistance. Hunger is a very real issue in Minnesota communities. In March of 2010, 753 households needed to use the Grand Rapids Food Shelf to put food on the table. Food Shelf use has doubled from 2005 to 2009 and 40% of food shelf clients are children. Through the generosity of postal customers and the commitment of local letter carriers “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive will again help stock the shelves and help feed families in need. For more information, call the Food Shelf at 326-4420