ABOVE: Deb Nafziger (left) and Roni Dauer (right) work in tandem to fulfill food and item requests from those in need at Heaven’s Table Food Shelf in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT – Across Fairmont and Martin County, demand at local food shelves has risen throughout the year, especially during the holiday season.

Heaven’s Table board chair Greta Lintelman said their demand is consistently highest around the wintertime. She said their numbers took a hit during COVID, but are now surging past pre-COVID figures with around 300 families coming to Heavens Table every month.

The rise in demand has led them to forego their traditional holiday care package.

“We usually give a meal pack, so a turkey breast in November and a ham in December,” Lintelman said. “It’s a huge expense for us. Donations are down overall, both in cash and actual goods people bring in.”

Grocery prices, lower wages and difficulties for seniors and handicapped people are factors Lintelman said have contributed to the rising demand for food shelves. With this rise, she said it presents a few difficulties.

“It’s a lot of food to process through,” Lintelman said. “It depends on what’s available through our food bank. We are a part of what they call TEFAP, which is a government program for free food. There’s been less available since COVID has subsided, and it costs us a little bit more because we have to purchase more of it than we were getting for free previously. It’s a big business.”

Donations are a big part of Heaven’s Table’s business because it is a non-profit. It applies for grants through Hunger Solutions and directly from its food bank, Second Harvest Heartland.

Lintelman said they hope to receive some of the $5 million Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced would go to state food shelves. She said the food banks will likely receive the money and disperse it to the food shelves they work with.

Every Tuesday and Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m., those in need fill out a form listing what goods they need and a package is assembled inside for free. Attendees stay in their cars, a change that happened during COVID-19 and has stuck since.

Categories include dry goods, fresh produce, meats and proteins, freezer items, household goods and personal goods. They also seek to offer personal hygiene and winter clothing when they can, through outside donations and church drives.

The food shelf is open for those within 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or those in financial crisis such as a job upheaval or medical emergency.

Ruby’s Pantry of Sherburn operates differently from other area food shelves. It opens once every third Monday of the month from 5:30 to 7 p.m. through the Regional Worship Center.

Site lead Nancy Urban said packages are offered for $25, with $100 to 200 worth of food in each package. There are no residential or income-based requirements, and the package is placed by volunteers into the attendee’s car.

“There’s usually a protein, potatoes, snack foods, cereals, canned foods,” she said. “Sometimes we get donations from Dollar Tree and Dollar General, so we have miscellaneous foods like cookies and snacks. It varies every month.”

The pantry struggled in the summer when the highway outside their location at 2 Crossroads Drive was under construction.

“It took all summer for them, so we saw lower numbers during that time,” Urban said. “I think people didn’t know how to get to us, they had to weave around a bunch. The demand was there, we got a lot of calls during that time.”

Since construction was completed, the demand has surged in full force. In October, 188 packages were made and 220 cars came. Around 30 cars had to be turned away. When supply was bumped to 220 in November, around 220 came. Urban said they usually average around 180 each month and served 197 cars at this point last year.

“Groceries are so expensive, people can’t afford [them],” Urban said. “My husband lost his job and has had surgery. You lose an income like that for a few weeks, it hurts.”

Ruby’s Pantry Sherburn gets their supplies and support from their parent organization of the same name. That and independent donations are needed to keep them going. Urban said they are okay for now, but Ruby’s Pantry is struggling to find enough donations and supplies for their operations across all of Minnesota.

Martin County Salvation Army runs its food shelf every Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 3:30 p.m. They receive supplies from Second Harvest Heartland as well, along with other food banks. Wal-Mart supplies meat and produce.

Salvation Army’s Southwest Area Manager Krystal Stover said those using their service have to fill out forms showing they fit within income guidelines and proof of address.

“Our busiest times of the year are holidays and summer months,” she said. “Kids are out of school and there’s extra people that need to be fed. We’ve seen a lot of uptick since extra COVID dollars from food stamps were depleted. With the cost of everything, we’ve almost doubled our numbers since then.”

Stover said COVID offered a silver lining to those struggling, as more SNAP Benefits and food stamps meant needs were being filled in a way they hadn’t been before. With those benefits decreasing and grocery prices rising, food shelf demand has doubled and tripled for the Salvation Army.

“Last month, we served over 100 families that included over 350 individuals,” she said.

With this demand and the other services Martin County’s Salvation Army runs, Stover said they operate in the negative year over year.

“When we got the end-of-year reports, we spent about $78,000 in services, but we only raised $23,000,” she said. “We’re seeing [such] a huge demand that Salvation Army headquarters office is trying to fulfill that gap for our county.”

With Martin County’s percentage of impoverished people at 19 percent, Stover said the state Salvation Army has seen a need and will continue to assist in filling it.

All three organizations said they are short on donations and volunteers which help ensure they can operate efficiently for those that need it.

For more information or to contact Heaven’s Table, visit https://heavenstable.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/heavenstablefoodshelf, email heavenstable@gmail.com, or call 507-235-424.

For Ruby’s Pantry, visit https://www.rubyspantry.org/, https://www.facebook.com/rubyspantrysherburn/, or call 507-764-7491.

For Martin County Salvation Army, call 507-238-9797 or visit centralusa.salvationarmy.org.