Pete's County Market provides additional food for those in need

• Food shelf donation

Echo Press photo Pete’s County Market has donated $5,000 in food vouchers to United Way’s Community Impact Coalition. These vouchers will be distributed by United Way partner agencies to local families in need. Shown are Linda Roles (center), director of the local United Way Chapter with Bob Ahlgren (left) and Mark Klein at Pete’s County Market in Alexandria.

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Individuals and organizations are recognizing that nutritional needs are not being met across the nation.

These needs are far greater than existing programs can serve.

In fact, FEMA recently provided an additional $100 million to distribute above and beyond what it had already committed to ensure that new and increasing needs are being addressed.

Due to the current economic climate, local agencies are reporting that clients’ food needs are increasing. Based on its 12 percent poverty rate, estimates show Douglas County would need to distribute well over 211,000 pounds of food annually to meet the need.

The Douglas County Outreach Food Shelf distributes on average 97,000 pounds of food each year. United Way’s Community Impact Coalition is looking for additional sources of food to fill the projected shortage.

Pete’s County Market agreed to partner with the Community Impact Coalition after learning of the local hunger needs. The $5,000 in food vouchers are a direct result of this partnership.

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This information is provided through the efforts of the Community Impact Coalition. If you would like to know more about the work being done locally by the United Way Community Impact Coalition, contact Jessica Boyer, United Way Community Impact director, at (320) 763-4840 or visit www.uwdp.org.

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