ST. PETER — If round one was any indication, the COVID-19 food assistance program’s second go-around should draw plenty of interest.
Second Harvest Heartland’s free food box distributions provided assistance to 1,500 households in Blue Earth County and 700 in Nicollet County in June. Round two will be scaled down, starting with 500 boxes to be distributed Thursday in Nicollet County.
The drive-by program is a safe way for people struggling during the pandemic to access food assistance, said Char Graff, Second Harvest’s agency program specialist.
“It attracts people that don’t necessarily go to the food shelf, especially the elderly,” she said. “You see a lot of elderly at these events because they can drive up, stay safe in their car and people put (the food) right in.”
Although many older adults sought it out last time, anyone is eligible for the assistance. The temporary program was designed to be low barrier and offered in food-insecure counties.
Round one worked as hoped even with a couple of hitches — such as a freezer malfunction that prevented protein boxes from being distributed in Blue Earth County. Protein will be back on the menu for the county’s 1,000-box distribution July 23 at a new location to lessen traffic concerns, Prairie Winds Middle School.
Organizers in Nicollet County are switching things up a bit as well, pushing the time later in the day. The distribution will now be from 3-5 p.m. at St. Peter High School.
“We’re hoping to reach a little bit broader group of people in case they’re working in the middle of the day and can’t get away on a lunch break,” said Leah Mahoney, who co-leads the St. Peter Food Access Network.
As with the first distributions, local groups like the network are helping run the events. Even with enough food for 700 households last time, the boxes went fast, said Mahoney, who also coordinates the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership for Brown, Nicollet, Le Sueur and Brown counties.
“We ran out of food at the last one early within an hour and 15 minutes,” she said. “We knew people were going to come, just didn’t realize how many and how quickly it was going to go.”
The network was hoping for more food to distribute this time, but supplies are tight. Second Harvest plans to hold August distributions as well assuming federal funding is still available.
Volunteers will again be needed to make the program run smoothly. About 25 people can handle the Nicollet County distribution, Mahoney estimated, but another food program starting Friday also needs help.
The St. Peter Area Food Shelf has a separate produce distribution planned for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the First Lutheran Church for St. Peter and Kasota residents, Mahoney said. It’ll be the first of six distributions between July and October.
Along with Second Harvest’s distributions in Blue Earth and Nicollet counties, Le Sueur County’s is set for 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. July 28 at the Le Sueur County Fairgrounds.
