Ellendale Food Shelf well supported by community

According to committee members Becky Larson and Cynthia Nelson, the Ellendale Food Shelf has seen an impressive increase in usage over the past year, going from a typical number of 35 or fewer families during its weekly distribution to a new record number of 44. It has become common, Larson shares, to distribute between 1,500 and 1,700 pounds of food during the three-hour time slot from 3:30 to 6:30 on Thursday afternoons.

 

The food shelf has been in existence since 2009, and currently operates out of the United Methodist Church (UMC) at 200 Sixth Street North on the western edge of Ellendale, although it is not affiliated with the church. Nelson explains it’s necessary to make that distinction because Channel One, a food distributor which serves food shelves all across southern Minnesota by delivering food at prices below retail cost, has as a policy that it will not serve organizations which promote religion or faith.

 

Still, since the UMC provides space for storage and distribution, the church is one of the food shelf’s largest contributors. Most of the people who serve on the shelf’s committee are members at one or another of the churches located in Ellendale.

 

Summarizing the many tasks which must be performed to ensure each week’s food delivery can take place, Larson says matter-of-factly, “There are some real benefits to being in a small town.”

 

She goes on to express gratitude for the service of committee members, and then for the generosity of the community.

 

“People genuinely like to give,” she observes. 

 

For one thing, all work is performed on a volunteer basis.

 

Nelson also mentions how Ross Sletten, owner of Lerberg’s Grocery in downtown Ellendale, has a system of filling bags with typical popular items, setting them near the cash register, and offering people a chance to buy them to be donated to the food shelf. “It’s a quick and easy reminder for people who mean to give and might just be forgetting,” she comments.

 

She also expresses gratitude for the youth groups at area churches. She mentions a recent challenge between the boys and girls in one church. After some of the girls posted on Facebook that they were working to collect food for the local shelf, they received an invitation to bring their cars to the Owatonna Hy-Vee store; Larson says they came back with more than 500 pounds of donated food. 

 

Acknowledging that many people give of their time and resources to keep the food shelf operating, Larson says the general approach of the whole team seems to be the adage, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

 

“We want to be here for anyone who’s experiencing food insecurity,” says Larson. “We recognize a time could come when it might be any of us–you never know what turns life will take.”

 

A recent “taco bar” fundraiser, which was planned, prepared and served by food shelf committee members, raised nearly $4,100. “We were pleased,” comments Larson. “It was another way the community showed us they value what we do.”

 

Area merchants who contributed gift certificates for the fundraiser included Lerberg's foods, Lerberg's car wash and fitness, Floors 4-U, Steve's Meats, Ellendale Cafe, Two Doves Boutique, and Hope Butter.

 

Anyone wishing to donate to the Ellendale Food Shelf can mail a donation to P.O. Box 295, in Ellendale; stop by during distribution hours on Thursdays from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., or call the Methodist Church at (507) 684-2731 to schedule an appointment.