Music to feed souls and hungry people, too

Talk about it

A community taking care of each other. That might be another definition of "food shelf."

For those who might like a little fun while making their contributions to the Two Harbors food shelf, a fund-raising concert called Music to Feed the Soul is being sponsored by the United Church on Sunday, March 22, at 3 p.m.

For a free will offering, which will be promotionally matched by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, visitors can hear the United Church Choir, the Knife River Bell Choir, Superior Sound, singer Lauren Burton, Tracey Williams on piano, Alan Anderson and Brass Ensemble, and other musicians from the community.

The timing of the concert isn't accidental. Now, with the economy challenging people who may not have been challenged before, more people than ever are using food shelves to feed their families. March is the month when those who can share are encouraged to be extra generous to insure a good year for those in need.

The money or food collected this month determines how much local food shelves will receive as a match from Hunger Solutions, a larger food distribution organization, according to Lenore Johnson, a member of the Two Harbors food shelf board.

"I was just at the food shelf the other day, and there were lots of empty spaces on the shelves," Johnson said.

She verified that the numbers of people using the food shelf are going up--"and not just those laid off, but new names (in the community)," she said.

This past January, 88 households made use of the food shelf, as compared to 55 in January 2008. Of January's users, 55 were aged 0-17, 119 were 18-64 and 15 were 65 or older.

Johnson said food donations are always welcome, but that dollar amounts go further because items can be purchased more economically from the Second Harvest Food Bank in Duluth. In Two Harbors, both money and non-perishable food items can be brought to the AEOA building on 10th Street, just off CSAH 26.

Monetary donations can also be mailed to Two Harbors Food Shelf, P. O. Box 236, Two Harbors, MN 55616.

The food shelf in Two Harbors is open every Tuesday.

In Silver Bay, Jenny Cook, administrative assistant for Lake County, said food shelf usage is the highest it's been since 2004. In January, 41 households used the service. Of those, 42 people were aged 0-17, 68 were 18-64 and 3 were seniors.

The food shelf in Silver Bay is located in the Lake County Service Center, and is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Donations of food or money can be dropped off there. Money can be mailed to the service center at 99 Edison Blvd., Silver Bay 55614.

Tags: music, foodshelf, unitedchurch