The phone lines constantly ring at the ICA Food Shelf in Minnetonka, as a growing number of Twin Cities residents seek help. But for ICA and other food shelves across Minnesota, the need is only expected to climb.
The state recorded a record number of food shelf visits last year, but nonprofits are bracing for even higher numbers as COVID-19 federal aid payments subside. This month, food shelves and churches from Two Harbors to Tracy are calling for extra help as they restock ahead of the anticipated spike in demand.
"We know the next wave is coming," said Dan Narr, ICA's executive director. "We're expecting it to be a cliff, basically."
The Twin Cities Salvation Army hopes to collect 2 million pounds of food this month to refill its nine food shelves. At Greater Twin Cities United Way, volunteers are packaging basmati rice, bamboo shoots and other cultural foods for its third annual "Flavors of Our Community" food drive.
And across the state, nearly 300 food shelves are fundraising and collecting food during Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches' (GMCC) Minnesota FoodShare campaign, held each March to combat the lull in generosity that typically follows the holidays.
"The need has just grown exponentially," said Megan Young-Black, GMCC operations director. "This is a time of year when donations slow down. This is just a way to inject some energy into those efforts again."

Food shelf leaders say the higher cost of living and the end of pandemic aid — from stimulus checks to eviction moratoriums — have forced more people to turn to food shelves.
More Minnesotans visited food shelves in 2022 than in any other year on record, tallying more than 5.5 million visits — nearly 2 million more visits than in 2021 or 2019, before the pandemic began. Nearly 60,000 more Minnesotans used food stamps in 2022 than in 2019, with about 438,000 state residents on average receiving food stamps each month.