Partnership helps feed Minnesotans

A new partnership is helping to feed Minnesotans.

The pandemic is causing food insecurity to increase across southeast minnesota this year.

Kimt news three's anthony monzon shares how a partnership is helping meet rising needs.

It's been a year since the partnership between channel one food bank and unitedhealthca re began... and the centerpiece of the partnership is really this truck behind me.

From the outside it may look like a typical box truck... but inside it has refrigeration capabilities... allowing channel one to distribute fresh and frozen products to food shelves across the region who may not be able to store them on their own.

And this truck has been put to good use since january.

Just take a listen to what viriginia merritt of channel one food bank says it's helped accomplish since the beginning of this year.

"the truck has driven 17,380 miles across our region, that's 135 miles a day, about, and that's food delivery to five agencies.

So that could be a partner food shelf, or a soup kitchen, or a low?

"* income day care.

So that's five each day.

And it's delivered aproximately 660,000 pounds of food from january 1 to june 30th."

Merritt went on to say they are delivering more food every week compared to 2019.... which is critical work as the food bank says