REGIONAL — Second Harvest Northland has a lot of shelves to fill. As the region’s only food bank, they supply food at little to no cost to 70 food shelves in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.
“Every dollar donated to us allows us to donate three meals worth of food to a local food shelf,” said Shaye Moris, president and CEO of the organization.
Food donated to Second Harvest, mostly from manufacturers and retail stores, is then given free to area food shelves that only pay a delivery fee, which is up to $150 per truckload. Second Harvest has an annual budget of $5 million and employs 30 people.
March has been designated FoodShare Month for many years now.
The Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign is the state’s largest grassroots effort supporting local food shelves, and contributions have greater impact during the March 1 through April 6 campaign. When community members donate food or funds to Second Harvest Northland’s network of food shelves, contributions can be proportionately matched by funds generated from the Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign. Every contribution ensures food shelves have the resources they need to meet increasing demand and to re-stock the shelves after holiday season resources have declined. 
“Our region’s food shelves have never been more essential,” said Moris. “The March campaign brings together caring people across Minnesota to ensure every community has the food resources it needs.” 
Moris said that Second Harvest provides up to 90-percent of the food distributed at area food shelves.
The organization’s new Duluth facility, opened in 2025, has strengthened this support by expanding freezer and cooler capacity. This has allowed Second Harvest Northland to increase access and distribution of neighbor-preferred fresh foods, including fresh produce, dairy, meat, fish, and poultry, which now makes up 45 percent of its distribution. 
“More families are turning to food shelves, and they deserve high-quality, nourishing options,” said Moris “Our expanded facility makes that possible.” 
Moris said in the 28 years she’s been at Second Harvest, she has watched as food shelves transitioned from emergency support to supplemental monthly support.
“This is a necessary resource so families can make ends meet each month,” she said.
Over the past year alone, food shelf visits in the region have increased nine percent, continuing a multi-year trend of higher demand largely caused by high inflation, the end of temporary federal supports, the more recent government shutdown and SNAP changes. Food shelves are also seeing significant demographic shifts including a significant increase of over 50 percent of senior citizens using food shelves, and children making up 27 percent of those served by local food shelves. Working families continue to be the majority of users of area food shelves.
Kate Smith, who is the director of the Tower Food Shelf, said they are still seeing a high demand from area residents, which reached record levels this past fall.
“We are able to meet the demand,” she said. The food shelf recently moved into their own building, the old St. James Church, and was able to expand storage for both nonperishable, fresh, and frozen foods.
“We try to order a variety of different foods each month,” she said. “It’s nice for our families to have choices.”
Smith has also started purchasing bagged salad mixes from Zup’s in Tower, and food shelf clients get a voucher to purchase milk, eggs, and fruit from the store each month.
The building also has a kitchen and community area in the lower level.
Smith is excited to start offering cooking classes for food shelf families, teaching ways to best use the types of food available at the food shelf to create tasty and healthy meals for families. They are also hoping to start a monthly soup dinner. Longer-term plans include teaching classes on canning, for example, showing people how to turn frozen fruit into jam. She is also starting tomato and pepper plants at her family’s farm in Angora, and they will be handing out starters to interested families.
Cleo Cottrell, a long-time volunteer at the Cook Food Shelf, credits the support of the community for keeping the food shelf operating. The food shelf is located in a garage behind St. Mary’s Catholic Church, which donates the space to the food shelf.
This food shelf does not offer “shopping” like the ones in Tower and Ely.
“We aren’t big enough to let people come in and shop,” she said. The Cook Food Shelf gets community support from the Lions Club, churches, and snowmobile club, she said. They also get a lot of support from the local Zup’s store.
“Matt Zupancich is very good to the food shelf,” she said. “If there are things we cannot get from Second Harvest, we can buy them at Zup’s.” All three of the area food shelves feel they get a lot of support from their local Zup’s store.
“We are donation-driven,” Cottrell said.
The Ely Food Shelf also receives wide community support. The Ely Rotary Club recently announced it is matching all community donations to the food shelf, up to $2,000, between now and March 25. Donations should have “Rotary Match” noted on the check. The club also placed “penny jars” in 31 area businesses and donates the proceeds to the Ely Area Food Shelf in March every year. This year, these donations totaled $7,000.
You can donate:
Cash donations give our local food shelves the best “bang for the buck.” They enable food shelves to order the types of food their clients need, as well as provide funds for purchasing supplemental items like milk, eggs, and fresh produce.
Cook Food Shelf
124 5th St. SE, PO Box 633, Cook, MN 55723 (located behind St. Mary’s Catholic Church). Non-perishable items can be dropped at Zup’s, State Farm in Cook, and local churches. The Cook Food Shelf is open the third Wednesday of the month from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. The food shelf offers drive-through service only.
Ely Food Shelf
15 W Conan St., Ely, MN 55731. The Ely Food Shelf is open the third Wednesday of the month from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., as well as the following Saturday from 8 – 11 a.m.
Tower Food Shelf
302 Spruce St, PO Box 533, Tower, MN 55790 (located in the old St. James Presbyterian Church building). The Tower Food Shelf is open the third Tuesday of each month from 2:30 – 5 p.m.
Second Harvest Northland
For more information about Second Harvest Northland or the Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign, 218-727-5653, info@secondharvestnorthland.org or visit www.secondharvestnorthland.org.