News Archive

Despite improving economy, demand at food shelves remains high

Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

Monday, February 25, 2013

You could say Byron Laher is more sensitive than many to the needs of the hungry.

Sitting for a haircut at his neighborhood Fantastic Sam’s recently, he couldn’t help but ask the stylist: “How’s business?’’Clients are fewer, the tips smaller this month, she said.

Could she use a little extra food, he asked? Yes, she said, if only there were an emergency food shelf open evenings or on the weekends when she is off work. There is, he said, and told her where.

And again: After testifying before the Health and Human Services Finance Committee at the Legislature last week on the dramatic increase in need at emergency food shelves across the state, he had lunch at a Baker’s Square restaurant in Brooklyn Park and overheard a busboy being sent home at 1 p.m. because business was slow that day.

“My first thought is, ‘This guy needs those hours,’’’ says Laher, president of CEAP (Community Emergency Assistance Programs), which operates emergency food shelves at Brooklyn Center and Blaine locations and where the number of families needing food keeps rising — despite economists pronouncements the economy is on the mend. His clients are people working multiple, low-income jobs, Laher says.

Family visits to CEAP food shelves have been rising every January for the last five years, he says, from 895 then to 1,599 in January 2013.

More money needed

CEAP’s numbers are no anomaly but rather demonstrate need across the state and explain why emergency food providers and ...

Meals on Wheels affected if budget cuts deal fails

by Julie Siple, Minnesota Public Radio

Monday, February 25, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Senior meal programs in Minnesota would take a hit if President Barack Obama and Congress fail to reach a deal to avert automatic across-the-board spending cuts by Friday.

The White House says nutrition assistance for seniors would lose about $845,000 in the state between now and September. Patrick Rowan is the executive director of Metro Meals on Wheels, a partnership of nonprofits that deliver more than one million meals in the Twin Cities area each year. He said the program is already strained.

"We've seen cuts from the state level; we've seen cuts from the federal level; we've seen drops in donations periodically because of the economy," Rowan said. "What is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back? Hopefully this won't be it, but site by site is going to have to decide whether or not they can continue to serve meals."

Rowan said Meals on Wheels programs in the Twin Cities area could lose about $30,000. He said the program not only provides healthy meals for seniors, but also regular visits for people who are homebound.

Metro Meals on Wheels is an association of 35 Meals on Wheels programs in the Twin Cities metro that delivers to about 4,000 people in the Twin Cities every day. Rowan said the group is getting calls from seniors who are worried they aren't going to get meals.

"We're telling them we don't know. We're telling them to cross their fingers," Rowan said. "We're also telling them that if they really want to do something about it, they can contact their elected officials and let them know how important Meals on Wheels is to them."

It's unlikely the 5 percent cut will force Meals on Wheels to serve fewer people in the metro area, Rowan said, but he can't say for sure. He said the program is already strained by...