March is just around the corner, and with it comes the Kimball Area Food Shelf, Inc. food drive. Once again, the food shelf is sending out an appeal for help to residents from Kimball and the surrounding communities. All money and food donations are welcome. While there has never been a true dollar-for-dollar, pound-for-pound match in the history of the March Campaign, old myths never die. During the first Minnesota FoodShare campaign in 1983, several of the large corporations said they would provide a “match” for all the food that was collected during the campaign. That very first year, more than 1 million pounds of food was donated to local food shelves. The corporations were willing to match only up to 50,000 pounds. Thus the word “match” was born. What Minnesota FoodShare does have, thanks to generous donations from corporations and individuals, is an Allocation Fund from which it is able to provide an incentive allocation to food shelves that participate in Minnesota FoodShare’s March Campaign. The allocation provides an incentive to local food shelves to increase their local donations from congregations, businesses, civic groups, schools and individuals who donate to the food shelf during the March Campaign. The more the local food shelf raises on its own during the March Campaign, the larger their share of the Minnesota FoodShare Incentive Allocation. But it’s never pound-for-pound. During March, food shelves are also eligible to receive an additional incentive through the Alan Feinstein Foundation of New Jersey – again based on all donations received at the food shelf. These are incentives to help restock local food shelves in March, but they never add up to a dollar-for-dollar match. The important thing to remember is that March is the only time of the year the people can leverage additional dollars for their food shelf from their donation, and it is a great time of year to give and restock local food shelves. You may send your donation to: Kimball Area Food Shelf, Inc., P.O. Box 99, Kimball, Minn. 55353; or bring donated items to the Kimball Area Food Shelf located in St. Anne’s Catholic Church, 441 Hazel Ave. E., Kimball. For more information, call (320) 398-2211. From Minnesota FoodShare
