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Lucille and her mother Ruth have been coming to our Mobile Food Pantry Program in Hurley, WI, for more than four years. After Ruth’s husband moved into a nursing home, she moved in with her adult daughter.

“The food we receive from you keeps us from going hungry,” shares Ruth. “We’re so grateful.”  

Ruth receives only $16 per month from social security, which makes our monthly program vital. She lives with her daughter to save on expenses, and maintains a close mother-daughter connection playing board games and doing puzzles. The connection is special for Ruth. They also love to cook and bake together and greatly enjoy the fruits and vegetables they receive from us.

We often hear “food is love” and there’s no greater gift than the support you provide which ensures food and a mother-daughter connection for neighbors like Lucille and Ruth.

Over the last year, our volunteers contributed 17,000 hours of support which helped more than 44,000 children, families, and seniors throughout NE Minnesota and NW Wisconsin get the food they need to live healthy lives.

Ann, one of our 1,200 regional volunteers, has been giving back weekly since retiring as a nurse at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I love it here. All the people at Second Harvest are just such good people and really empathetic towards the neighbors who come here. We all really want to make sure everyone who comes to our food shelf is taken care of. People shouldn’t be in a situation where they don’t have food,” she shares. 

Ann and many other of our regular volunteers share that once they start coming, they keep wanting to give back. Mardy, another wonderful volunteer, shares that she started to volunteer when the pandemic began and saw how people were really hurting.

“I knew volunteering at Second Harvest could directly help people. I’ve met great people here and coming is like a little family,” she shares.