The second Saturday of the month is an important day for Food From the Heart volunteers and around 145 individuals and families. It has been since February 2011, when Triumphant Life Church’s former Pastor Ron Mixer agreed to let volunteers use the church facility as a food distribution site.
Channel One Regional Food Bank, based in Rochester, has shipped boxes of food items to the site for the past seven and a half years. But Channel One’s program and agency director, Jennifer Belisle, recently announced that April 11 will be the nonprofit’s last distribution to Food From the Heart.
Judy Davis, a volunteer with Food From the Heart, said Channel One was a fantastic distributor. However, volunteers and families feel as though the rug was pulled out from under them.
“We were so proud of Channel One up until August,” said Davis. “And I think that’s what’s bothering all of us — it’s such a drastic change.”
Davis explained that Channel One changed management in 2019, and Food From the Heart’s Channel One representative, JoEllen Barak, introduced the Lonsdale volunteers to Belisle in November. According to Davis, it was at the end of this meeting that Barak and Belisle broke the news that Channel One needed to stop its distribution to Food From the Heart.
Belisle’s explanation, according to Davis, was that Dodge Center and Dodge County are more in need of Channel One’s distribution service than Rice County.
Virginia Merritt, Channel One executive director, said that’s partially true, but it’s not a “Rice County versus Dodge County” situation. She explained that Channel One is a Feeding America food bank that uses Map the Meal Gap to find the number of meals food pantries and food banks provide and the number of meals needed in each county. That’s not the same as comparing the percentage of food insecurity between counties, she said.
“Some counties have one food shelf for the whole county, and Rice County has five,” said Merritt. “It really shows just what a good job Rice County does, with multiple places where people can go.”
Merritt also explained that mobile pantries, like Food From the Heart, are meant to be “a temporary stop gap” in places that lack freestanding food shelves. But with the Lonsdale Area Food Shelf less than a mile from Triumphant Life Church, she said Channel One will instead work with LAFS to direct families to other resources. The Lonsdale Area Food Shelf will also distribute NAPS (Nutritional Assistance Program for Seniors) fliers.
Davis pointed out the majority of these resources, including Society of St. Vincent DePaul and First Baptist Food Shelf in Faribault, are 20 miles away from Lonsdale. For the other eight towns that receive boxes from Food From the Heart, including Montgomery and Elko New Market, these Rice County resources are closer to 30 miles one way.
Merritt maintains that Channel One believes a “dignified experience” for families in need is allowing them to select the food they want at a food shelf, but Lucy Kuchinka, who volunteers for both Food From the Heart and the LAFS, explained that some families simply prefer a mobile pantry like Food From the Heart.
Harold Kuchinka, also a volunteer, said Food From the Heart is different from the food shelf because boxes come prepackaged. Families can’t customize their boxes, but they can decide if they want to take home whatever perishable food items Channel One might send, including fruits and breads. Volunteers also bring the boxes to families’ vehicles, using carts.
“It really is a social event,” said Mary Jean Sirek, volunteer.
Sirek makes coffee and brings kolacky, and she calls all the volunteers to line up the distribution. When children tag along to the church, Sirek said they peek in the kitchen because they know it’s where Vi Miller keeps her brownies and Lucy has her banana bread.
Even though April 11 is the last day for Channel One’s distribution, Davis said she’s not giving up and would like Channel One to find a solution to continue its service.
“This isn’t about us, but the people we’re serving,” said Davis.
Lucy said the volunteers are looking for another source, but she too would like to see Channel One continue servicing Food From the Heart.
Sirek, after talking to the other volunteers and praying about it, said she’s going to “let go and let God” in hopes that another source turns up.
From Merritt’s perspective, the decision isn’t a negative as much as it is a testament to the hard work of volunteers in Rice County. There won’t be less food in Rice County, she said, but the way it’s distributed will change.
“I know it’s hard to lose something the community is used to having, but I hope one day people have the resources they need to buy their own food,” said Merritt. “Every nonprofit is trying to put themselves out of business because the need is met.”
Reporter Misty Schwab can be reached at 507-333-3135. Follow her on Twitter @APGmisty. ©Copyright 2019 APG Media of Southern Minnesota. All rights reserved.
