Catholic Charities “Pack the Porches” food and fund drive set for March 18

Nearly four million Minnesotans visited food shelves in 2021. In the St. Cloud area, Catholic Charities Emergency Services Food Shelf distributed 1,303,807 pounds of food to 12,320 individuals across 4,138 households.

As part of the Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign, Catholic Charities will hold its 12th annual “Pack the Porches” food and fund drive, benefitting Catholic Charities Food Shelf. March is typically a challenging month for Minnesota food shelves as the number of families being served the first months of the year and the amount of food going out the door is considerably greater than the amount of food coming in during the same period.

On Friday, March 18, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., Catholic Charities Food Shelf will accept donations of nonperishable food items at three curbside drop-off locations: Pioneer Place on Fifth (22 5th Ave. S., St. Cloud), St. Cloud Hyundai (900 2nd St. S., Waite Park) and St. Cloud Financial Credit Union (1716 Pinecone Rd. S., Sartell). Funds can also be donated at the three drop-off locations and online at www.ccstcloud.org/giving. Coborn’s will match all food and fund donations up to $10,000.

For those who can’t make it to “Pack the Porches,” Catholic Charities Food Shelf is accepting food donations Mondays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the loading area (door D) of its location at 157 Roosevelt Rd., St. Cloud. (Outside of these hours, call 320-229-4560 and press 7 to coordinate another drop-off time.) Donors should not leave donations outside the doors. Donations must be collected and weighed by Catholic Charities staff to ensure food safety standards and inventory tracking.

Monetary donations to Catholic Charities Food Shelf can be made online at www.ccstcloud.org/giving.

The Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign runs Feb. 28 through April 10. By donating to Catholic Charities Food Shelf during the Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign, donations stay local but count towards a statewide effort to help stock the shelves of every food shelf in the state. The share of the statewide campaign will be even greater the more that can be raised locally. Join Catholic Charities to end Minnesota hunger and increase awareness of food insecurity within the St. Cloud area.

Photo: Bigstockphoto.com

Author: The Central Minnesota Catholic

The Central Minnesota Catholic is the magazine for the Diocese of St. Cloud.

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