Essentia Health Donates To CHUM Food Shelf’s Produce Partnership With Local Farmers

DULUTH, Minn. — Essentia Health donated $7,500 to the CHUM Food Shelf in Duluth on Monday.

CHUM partners with the Community-Supported Agriculture Guild by buying fresh produce from local farmers, which is then distributed to people in need through the food shelf.

Essentia’s donation will go toward that program, with the locally-grown fruits and vegetables adding more nutritional value to boxes of food.

“The money that they gave us today will go back to farmers and farms, where they’ll invest it in seed and land and all of that,” CHUM’s director of distributive services, Scott Van Daele, explained. “They will give us the product and produce that they deliver after it’s grown, so it’s a great team and a great partnership to be able to do this.”

CHUM is also still seeing a higher-than-usual turnout from those in need picking up donations, compared to before the pandemic hit and caused financial devastation for many people.

This weekend, the Boy Scouts will be out at Super One grocery stores in the area collecting monetary and food donations for CHUM.