Yes! If the pandemic has reminded us of anything, it’s that we need more than food to prevent hunger in our community. Before COVID-19, people in our community were already struggling. The pandemic has only made things worse. Now, low-paying jobs and unemployment are making it even more difficult for people in our community to feed their families.

Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 1 in 11 Minnesotans struggled to afford food. Now, 1 in 9 Minnesotans faces hunger (Second Harvest Heartland). Interfaith Outreach saw 820 new families in 2020 (Interfaith).

The health and safety of our community is our top priority. We continue to serve the needs of our community while following recommendations from the MN Department of Health to protect all members of our community – clients, staff, volunteers, partners and neighbors.

In March 2020, when the pandemic hit, the Interfaith Outreach food shelf pivoted to provide resources to our community through a drive-up model and then by fall expanded our food shelf service even more. 10,000+ food shelf visits provided via curbside, home delivery and on-site shopping, and 792,204 meals for our neighbors were made possible thanks to the support of our donors, partners and volunteers.

You can make a hands-on, tangible difference in the fight to prevent hunger and support our neighbors in three simple ways:

• DONATE CASH – To support our wrap-around services
• PARTNER – Share job leads with our Employment Services team
• DONATE GOODS – Ensure your neighbors have the food and items they need

Financial donations support our ability to respond to emergency needs for food and financial assistance most flexibly, while reducing the number of hands that touch the food and goods we distribute. With your $1 donation, we can source $9 of food from partners. Here are a few ways your investment will work to make a life-changing difference:

• $100 can source $900 of food to feed a family for a month
• $563 provides an individual a year of caring support from a case manager
• $1,999 provides employment services for an individual to land a “career” job
• A gift of any amount will help feed families and fuel hope

The Prevent Hunger campaign is Interfaith Outreach’s annual drive to make real, significant progress toward ending hunger in our community by attacking hunger at its root causes—because it takes more than food to prevent hunger.

• It takes MORE wrap-around support services.
• It takes MORE quality job leads.
• It takes MORE of the right food and access to it.

Together, Interfaith Outreach and this community can provide, beyond our food shelf, additional services that tackle the root causes of hunger, including poverty, lack of employment and other challenges that put families and individuals in crisis. Of those who use the food shelf, 40% are children.

Interfaith Outreach is asking the community for very specific, targeted items for the food shelf: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, cooking oils (vegetable, coconut, olive, canola, avocado, sesame, etc.) and cereal. Additionally, we need infant formula, juice boxes, canned meat, paper towels and toilet paper. We are responding to the specific needs of clients and asking the community for help with items that are in high demand and expensive for us to purchase. While this list is smaller than in past years, it focuses on filling our shelves with items most needed right now.

At Interfaith Outreach we are working hard to help the community understand the devastating effects of COVID-19 on the working poor. The pandemic in Minnesota has taken a particular toll on individuals who were earning less than $14.70 an hour pre-COVID. These people are the most likely to still be out of work. Black Minnesotans have been disproportionately impacted by layoffs during the pandemic. While they make up only 5.9% of the labor force, they represent more than 10% of unemployment claimants. Unemployment during the pandemic has also critically impacted Minnesotans 65 and older who are most at risk for prolonged unemployment. [DEED]

In Hennepin County, a single adult with one child would need to work full time and earn $27.55/hour (or earn $57,306) to support their family. (Interfaith) (livingwage.mit.edu)

Poverty in the Twin Cities suburbs has grown three times faster than poverty in Minneapolis and St. Paul over the past 10 years. 14% of people in the Interfaith Outreach service area live in poverty. The lack of available living wage jobs means that many working families are struggling with incomes that can scarcely cover basic needs like food, housing, child care and transportation.

Our community has more than enough food. Lack of food is not the problem. The problem is that hunger is tied to poverty, unemployment and other challenges that put families and individuals in crisis—challenges that Interfaith Outreach has decades of experience addressing.

We take complex problems—including hunger—and tackle their root causes with a wrap-around approach proven to deliver life-changing results.

The need for food is what brings people to the Interfaith Outreach food shelf. But often, that need is a warning sign, a signal of other larger challenges. That’s why our approach begins with assessing what’s working—and what’s not. Then we work together to develop a tailored response that not only addresses the immediate need for food but also provides life-changing wrap-around support that builds stability and helps strengthen individuals and their families.

Wrap-around services include job-search support and employment training, as well as broad family support.

• Donate the money you would have spent on this meal to Interfaith Outreach’s Prevent Hunger campaign
• Help neighbors find quality jobs with good wages
• Advocate for anti-hunger legislation and programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), WIC (Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children), and food assistance for K-12 students. Find your state and federal representatives here.
• Volunteer with Interfaith Outreach supporting our food shelf, employment services, or other roles
• Support businesses that pay living wages to their employees
• Advocate for an increased minimum wage
• Purchase some of your family’s favorite foods and donate them to the food shelf each month
• Be an ally to those facing hunger. Dispel stereotypes and misconceptions about hunger. Speak up when you hear someone spreading false information or mistaken beliefs.
• Plant a garden this summer and donate your harvest to the Interfaith Outreach food shelf
• ….Add your ideas! Tell us how you will help prevent hunger.