Challenge Yourself to Help End Food Insecurity in the St. Cloud Area

June 30, 2022

You can make a difference for families experiencing food insecurity in our community

Minnesota summers were made for trips to the cabin, boat rides on the lake, and farmers market outings, not food shelf visits. Children are home from school and the family budget is tight. Catholic Charities Emergency Services Food Shelf helps provide nutritious fruits and vegetables to these families and needs your help this summer.


"In a normal summer, we see an increase in child visits during the summer," said Sue Hanks, Catholic Charities Emergency Services program manager. "When school is out for summer vacation, many children miss out on free school meals and their families turn to us for support. This summer, between the kids being home from school and more families experiencing economic hardship due to inflation, soaring food and gas prices, and the impacts of expiring Covid-19 pandemic relief programs, we are seeing a greater level of need."


Make a bigger impact on food insecurity in our community this July


Every day, Minnesotans make over 10,000 visits to food shelves statewide – that is more than seven visits to a food shelf every minute if food shelves were open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In 2021, Minnesotans made 3,632,243 visits to their food shelves statewide. Children represented 34.8% of food shelf visits in Minnesota with a total of 1,265,599 visits. Even before COVID-19, there was a record level of need across the state.Last July, Catholic Charities Food Shelf distributed over 110,000 pounds of food to people experiencing food insecurity in the St. Cloud area.


You can make a difference this year by donating throughout the month of July. The more you donate, the larger our food shelf’s grant from Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless will be. The challenge funds will proportionally match your donation. Your financial donation will go further due to our buying power. We can purchase food from our food bank for pennies on the pound.


Since 1986, Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless has targeted millions of dollars to strategically fight hunger in Minnesota. Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless funds the purchase and transfer of more than one million pounds of fresh produce, meat, and dairy products to food shelves every year. Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless also provides grants for food shelves and food banks to get the equipment they need—like freezers, shelving and trucks—to be able to serve the growing number of Minnesotans who can’t afford enough food for their families.


Hunger Solutions Minnesota is the statewide organization that coordinates this challenge grant opportunity. Hunger Solutions works to end hunger via the Minnesota Food HelpLine and by advancing fair public nutrition policies on behalf of hungry Minnesotans. Hunger Solutions also connects Minnesota’s food shelves with funding and technical assistance to support the 10,000+ daily food shelf visits statewide.


Give to Catholic Charities Food Shelf


Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless will proportionally match donations to Catholic Charities Food Shelf during the month of July, up to $4,000, to help end food insecurity in the St. Cloud area. The more funds raised in July towards the food shelf, the larger the matching grant from Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless will be. Donations to Catholic Charities Food Shelf can be made online at ccstcloud.org/donate

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By Brittany Hoversten • December 8, 2025
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