Chisholm Food Shelf Tries to Keep Up With Demand Despite Debt
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Photojournalist:
CHISHOLM - It's supposed to be a time where area food shelves restock and look forward to the year ahead, but the Chisholm Food Shelf is just trying to keep up.
"The problem is slowly over time, the last six months or so their income has not kept up with their expenses," Bonnie Ebnet, of the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency said.
Community members gathered Friday discussing ways to keep the food shelf up and running despite being in debt.
"The food shelf is an integral part of our community. Obviously they're running on a deficit right now and it feels very important that we get this ship back on the right track," Chisholm Mayor Mike Jugovich said.
The Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency (AEOA) oversees northeast Minnesota food shelves and says the Chisholm Food Shelf assisted 1,000 more needy people this past year than in previous years.
"We're a bedroom community and obviously people are on fixed incomes, it's very difficult. The economy's tough and money's not readily available," Jugovich said.
Those aren't the only people who are looking for help.
"The interesting thing is there's more seniors coming into the food shelf that historically have very seldom visited, but now they find themselves in a position where they need to seek assistance," Ebnet said.
Ideas to turn the food shelf's fortunes around include forming committees, gaining new volunteers and possibly moving into an empty store front or church to save on rent.
"I think if we work together we had some really good ideas today. We need to implement them, get the board back together, and move forward and we'll get this ship back on track,” Jugovich added.
Community members and agencies are determined on finding a way to continue providing for those in Chisholm and the surrounding area no matter the cost.
"We will continue to help them out financially and they can pay us back over whatever time period they need. We're committed to this effort," Ebnet said.
