The Great Plains Food Bank serves nearly 200 chartable feeding programs across North Dakota and Clay County, Minnesota.
Shoppers at Hornbacher’s grocery stores in the Fargo-Moorhead area raised just under $115,000 for the Great Plains Food Bank during the month of July.
Hornbacher’s President Matt Leiseth says every July for the last 27 years, checkout workers have asked shoppers if they’d like to donate $1, $3, $5 or more to the Check Out Hunger campaign. Over the years, shoppers have given roughly $750,000. This year was the biggest campaign yet. Leiseth says one dollar can pay for roughly ten meals, meaning tens of thousands of meals will be served because of generosity in the community.
"Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo is probably the most giving community I've ever heard of. I don't see this happening in other places, where people really care about their neighbor, they know that people are struggling, and they're willing to do something about it."
Melissa Sobolik is CEO of the Great Plains Food Bank. She says prior to the pandemic, the Food Bank was serving about 102,000 people. That has since expanded to 150,000.
"There's a lot more people in need that have never been in need before; they're needing food boxes, and needing a little bit extra help. And this really goes to show that we have a really generous community, where, in the midst of a pandemic where so many people are struggling, they're still giving. Every time that they're asked, they're giving the $1, $3, $5. And it really adds up. For us, this is a huge gift at a time when we need it most."
The Great Plains Food Bank serves nearly 200 chartable feeding programs across North Dakota and Clay County, Minnesota.