The Northlands Rescue Mission in Grand Forks will be reopening its food pantry next week.
At the beginning of this month, Executive Director Everett Jones said shelves at the food pantry were bare. This prompted the Mission to temporarily close its doors to regain its footing. Jones said the initial plan was to reopen after 60 to 90 days, but now says the community responded with overwhelming support.
"We had some organizations like Ely's Ivy who took it upon themselves without even having reached out to us to do a food drive, a lot of local churches in the area participated, and just every day citizens who heard our call, got concerned and decided to participate. And to that point, we were able to open right back up."
Jones says 4500 pounds were donated within days, which will go a long way to ensure families who need it will once again have access through the Northlands Rescue Mission.
He says federal cuts and economic challenges remain a hurdle going forward, but that working to remain in the minds of those who live in the community makes a huge difference.
"We tried to quietly correct this in terms of reducing our hours, but what we learned in this process is just because we reduced our hours does not mean that our need reduces. As we're seeing the need continue to grow in the community, we have to make sure that we are proactively prepared. So you're going to see a lot of appeals letters going out, you'll see a lot of communication coming from the Mission, coming from myself, just to remind people that we're here and trying to get more specific in terms of what items that are needed on any particular day."
Jones says the Mission will return to regular operations on Tuesday, August 19th. He says the pantry will be open every Tuesday and Friday from noon to 4pm.