New facility

“It’s going to be…heaven!” comments Waseca Area food shelf manager Garry Huckfeld as he contemplates what it will be like to work in the new facility currently under construction for the food shelf.  “We’re going to be able to help people so much more efficiently.”

The food shelf currently serves clients out of a section of St. John’s Lutheran Church at 401 Third Ave NE, having moved a few times over the past few years because of facility needs and availability. Even now, the space the service is renting is smaller than ideal, with a large share of frozen storage located off site.

Huckfeld tells of having to make runs to transfer frozen food twice a week or more.  “That’s all right,” he comments in his easy way. “We’ll go as often as we have to.”

Still, all the workers and volunteers at the food shelf are looking forward to September, when the new facility—which will be connected directly to the Waseca Area Neighborhood Service Center—should be up and running. The 34’ x 65’ addition will feature mostly an open space with shelves of food organized for easy access. All freezer storage will be located on site.

Another positive element will be access of at least three types.  Clients with limited mobility should have no trouble entering and moving about the one-level structure. Receiving shipments and donations will be simplified because the facility will have some large delivery doors. Because the food shelf will again be connected to its sister facility—the Neighborhood Service Center—workers will no longer be divided across various locations.

“It will be a real benefit,” says Service Center director Denise Tipton, “to get everything back together again.” In addition to  all the other improvements, she notes, keeping track of inventory will be much simpler when all the supplies are located in one place.

Still, in talking with Tipton and Huckfeld, it does not seem to be so much the new facility which excites them, but rather the enhanced ability to serve.

According to Tipton, the food shelf assists about 150 families monthly. “And those numbers are going up.”

“We all know times have changed,” says Huckfeld. “The shifts in the economy have had a real impact.  People’s budgets are being strained and they just don’t know what to do—there’s no money left and they’re hungry.

“That’s when we want them to come to us. Anyone who’s hungry, we don’t care who they are, what they have, how much they make: We want them to come get food,” he says.

“We don’t ask for I.D. We don’t report who’s used our services,” says Tipton. “We’re here to serve everyone who’s hungry.”

A major source of support for the food shelf is the thrift shop at the Neighborhood Service Center. Donations of clothing, household goods and furniture are received from the public and offered for sale at bargain prices in the store. “All the money we take in goes right back out into the community,” says Tipton. That is not, however, the only source, especially with the building project now underway.

“We’ve written grant proposals,” says Tipton. “And we’ll be writing more. We’ll keep making appeals until it’s paid for: We’re not going to stop, because this is too important.”  She mentions an upcoming United Way fundraiser and donations from ConAgra and the Mayo Health foundation.

According to Huckfeld and Tipton, food for the organization comes from a variety of sources. A large-scale national distributor known as “Channel One” provides many different kinds of food, from canned goods to fresh produce, at a cost of “pennies on the dollar,” Huckfeld explains. He also expresses gratitude to local Wal-Mart and Kwik Trip stores which make significant on-going contributions. Area organizations including the Boy Scouts, Kiwanis and Boxcar Bar have also been persistent supporters, along with many others who have held fundraisers and food drives.

“Waseca is a very giving community,” observes Tipton. “I’ve worked in non-profit organizations for a number of years, and I feel privileged to be in this community working with the generous people who live in the area.” The food shelf welcomes donations large and small from local organizations and individuals, whether of food or money.

“We don’t turn anything down,” says Tipton.

“I don’t want to come across as a beggar,” jokes Huckfeld, “but at least if I do, I’m begging for a good cause. When it comes to kids going hungry, well, I get emotional.”

The need for donations is constant. “We need to be ready, because we never know who’s going to come in the door,” says Huckfeld, who recalls receiving nearly 4,000 pounds of donated food on July 12 and, thanks to visits from a number of families, sending nearly twice that amount out the door in the next couple days.

“We try to provide enough for 7 to 10 meals when people come. But you know kids—they’re energetic and they’re growing and they kind of want to eat all the time…

“We tell people if they run out, they should be sure to come back.”

Huckfeld’s sincerity is not only evident in his smile and open, friendly personality: it’s been proven time and again over the past six years as he’s managed the food shelf as a volunteer. He tells of having given out his personal phone number and inviting people to call him on Saturdays. “Heck,” he adds, “I’ve gone out and spent some of my own money on food.

“It’s a touching situation. We want to help people weather the turmoil that they go through; we all experience tough times, and I’m glad the food shelf can be here to give people a hand.”

Donations to the Waseca Area Food Shelf can be delivered to the current facility at St. John’s Lutheran Church at 401 Third Avenue NE or to the Service Center at 203 Third Avenue NW. Huckfeld suggests that anyone bringing in a large donation of food should contact the Center in advance so that preparations can be made to receive it: 507-833-4022.