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MOORHEAD - On an average day, 40 families visit the Dorothy Day Food Pantry here.
They shop in the grocery store-like setup for necessities like milk, bread and canned goods.
Cans, bags and boxes of food sit on color-coded shelves that signify how much of each item families and individuals can take. Clients receive one food basket a month and each person receives an average of 25 pounds of food, which typically lasts for two to three days.
Allowing people to shop like they would in a traditional grocery store helps them experience a sense of normalcy despite difficult circumstances, says Jim Manly, the food pantry coordinator.
Across the river in Fargo, the Emergency Food Pantry averages 45 families a day, says Stacie Loegering, the pantry's executive director.
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About 13 percent of North Dakotans are food-insecure, meaning they lack access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members, and 11 percent of Minnesotans, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. More than 30 percent of the food-insecure are children in both states.
While the shelves are fairly stocked at Dorothy Day, goods are depleted after busy days, and the pantry relies on community donations to help feed our neighbors.
Other local pantries survive on donations, too, so we gathered a list of current needs and additional information to help people who want to donate and those who might need food.
Dorothy Day Food Pantry
1308 Main Ave., Moorhead
(218) 284-8895
When to donate: noon to 5 p.m. Monday and Wednesday; 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday and Thursday.
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Needs: Anything nonperishable, specifically rice, canned tuna, cereal and hot cereal.
Cannot accept: Baby food or home-canned items.
How to receive food: The food pantry provides food baskets to low-income families and individuals from Cass and Clay counties. Food baskets are distributed from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. Monday and Wednesday and 1 to 2:45 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.
Bread and produce can be picked up from 9:45 to 11 a.m. Fridays.
Emergency Food Pantry
1101 4th Ave. N., Fargo
(701) 237-9337
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When to donate: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday
Needs: Boxes of macaroni and cheese, canned green beans, canned peas, tuna and peanut butter, as well as household goods like hygiene items, dish soap and laundry soap.
Cannot accept: Open food or food that is not labeled by manufacturer, such as deer meat processed at home or home-canned goods. Cans and boxed food can be distributed one year past the printed date.
How to receive food: The Emergency Food Pantry provides a week's worth of nutritional food up to six times a year upon referral from a social worker. If you do not have a caseworker, visit the Salvation Army, 304 Roberts St., Fargo, or call one of the following referral sites: Cultural Diversity, (701) 232-3449; St. Francis, (701) 235-5944; Motivation, Education and Training, (701) 478-9891; or a church. Clay County residents have an additional option of contacting Lakes & Prairies at (218) 299-7314.
Great Plains Food Bank
1720 3rd Ave. N., Fargo
(701) 232-6219
When to donate: 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Needs: Soup, stew, chili, peanut butter, canned meat products, cereal, pancake mix, tomato-based products, boxed meals, canned fruits and vegetables, pasta, rice, instant potatoes and personal hygiene products, paper products and cleaning supplies (keep these donations separate from food donations).
Cannot accept: Baby or pet food.
How to receive food: Food donated to the Great Plains Food Bank is distributed to 241 partner agency feeding programs across North Dakota and in Clay County in Minnesota. To find a food pantry, visit tinyurl.com/greatplainsfood.
Sources: Jim Manly, coordinator of the Dorothy Day Food Pantry in Moorhead; Stacie Loegering, executive director of the Emergency Food Pantry in Fargo; and Marcia Paulson, director of marketing and development at Great Plains Food Bank in Fargo
