Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - The 2019 Minnesota FoodShare drive is underway.

The annual effort to raise money and collect food for food shelves around the state runs through the month of March.

Channel One coordinates the Minnesota FoodShare drive in the Rochester area. It has set a goal this year to raise $200,000 and 260,000 pounds of food by the time the drive officially ends April 7th.

According to Channel One:

• 12,550 people are food insecure in Olmsted County – 4,400 of them are children.
• Channel One Food Shelf feeds people living in Olmsted County and 3,500 households use the Supplemental Food Shelf every month.
• The Channel One Food Bank partners with 55 other food shelves to serve people living in 13 counties in Southeast Minnesota and LaCrosse County, Wisconsin.

Virginia Merritt, Executive Director of Channel One shared, “we are unique as a food bank with a food shelf, and it affords us the ability to be extremely efficient with each dollar donated to provide nutritious meals for families in need. This campaign is critical for community support to add variety to the food shelf, serve over 3,500 families in Olmsted County each month, and strengthen healthy food access.”

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