(North Dakota Monitor) – More than 186,000 people accepted help from the Great Plains Food Bank’s network of food pantries in the past year, a new record for the organization.
The food bank, serving North Dakota and Clay County, Minnesota, said one in four people in the region relied on the network during the fiscal year that ended June 30, said Ann Prifrel, CEO of Great Plains Food Bank.
The total number of people using the food bank increased 16% compared to the previous fiscal year, according to the nonprofit food shelf.
“Our neighbors are struggling to make ends meet,” Prifel said in an interview.
She said increasing costs for food, gas, insurance and other necessities are driving people to reach out for food assistance from the organization.
“Working people are turning to the Great Plains Food Bank for help,” Prifrel said. She added the food bank itself has also experienced those increasing gas costs, but people who have made financial and food donations across their network have allowed them to continue helping those in need.
Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program last year played a role in the increased demand, Prifrel said. She said she was grateful for the state of North Dakota providing more than $900,000 in funding during the federal government shutdown to help get the organization through a difficult time until the government reopened.
“The challenge is really at the federal level right now,” she said. A family she spoke to that was receiving about $200 per month in SNAP benefits last year has been receiving about $25 per month since the government reopened last November.
Prifrel said the food bank has also seen a decrease in support from federal programs that provide food to the organization.
The Great Plains Food Bank distributed about 15.4 million pounds of food in the past fiscal year, a 4.5% increase. That’s despite a reduction to The Emergency Food Assistance Program, a federal food assistance program that provided the Great Plains Food Bank with nearly 1 million fewer pounds of food last year, she said.
“That’s challenging for us, and if we didn’t have such great supporters, if we didn’t have the communities really being aware of the need, we’d be in trouble,” Prifrel said. “There have been cuts to these really important federal programs that have impacted us.”
With the reduction in food provided by the federal government, the Great Plains Food Bank needed to purchase more surplus food from producers, distributors and retailers, using their own funds to cover the cost, she said
“The need is growing and we need to grow our response as well,” she said.
The Dream Center in Bismarck, part of the Great Plains Food Bank network, also experienced a record-breaking year in providing food and meals to the community, said Jim Barnhardt, executive director.
Barnhardt said the center provided 1.25 million meals last year through hot meals, sack lunches and food box distribution.
If a person loses a job, has a problem with their vehicle or a medical issue, people have to make difficult choices between addressing those problems and eating, he said.
“If we can help people with their grocery bills, so they have the money to pay their rent, to repair the car, to buy shoes for the kids … that’s a huge savings these days, especially when you go to the grocery store and look at that $7 per pound hamburger,” Barnhardt said.
Leaders of the Great Plains Food Bank are hoping to expand operations in the Fargo area with a new, larger facility that would also serve as a community center in the future, Prifrel said. She added the organization also wants to expand operations to schools and medical clinics in an effort to serve people in their communities.
The Great Plains Food Bank is a member of Feeding America, a nationwide hunger relief charity that provides surplus food and grocery donations from producers and manufacturers.
The number of food insecure North Dakotans increased from about 36,000 in 2020 to more than 91,000 in 2024, according to Feeding America. The most recent figures also showed a 23% increase in childhood food insecurity, Prifel noted.
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