Cliff Buchan
News EditorAn estimated 250 families and 1000 individuals in the Forest Lake area now have a new local food shelf to help them in time of need.
Monday saw the opening of the new Family Pathways Food Pantry in Schilling Plaza, Suite 7B, 255 Highway 97. The new food shelf is serving residents of the Forest Lake area and marks a return of an agency food shelf to this area.
Becky Bottema, a Family Pathways employee since March 1st, is managing the new Forest Lake food shelf. Schilling Plaza is located directly north of Forest Lake High School on TH-97.
She is originally from the St. Francis area and earned a degree in family social science from the University of Minnesota last December.
ìThe community was really asking for this location,î Bottema said last week on the eve of the opening here. Family Pathways has leased 850 square feet of space in the east wing of the Schilling Plaza complex.
The new Forest Lake location fills a void left last year when Family Pathways moved its Wyoming food bank operation to Lindstrom. Now, Bottema says, the agency is better prepared to deal with its client list in the Forest Lake area.
The Family Pathways goal is to provide monthly food distribution to families and individuals in need, Bottema said. Emergency help is also available.
The new food shelf will work in concert with the Community Helping Hand food shelf. The Helping Hand food shelf is designed to provide food goods to families at specific holiday times of the year.
The move to establish a Forest Lake location should be of big help to those in the area that need the food, said Bottema and Lyle LaCroix, a volunteer in Forest Lake.
ìIf they havenít got the money for food, they donít have the money for gas,î said LaCroix, a Wyoming resident who was a volunteer at the Wyoming food shelf.
In 2002, the last full year that the food shelf operated in Wyoming, some 6000 people received help from the agency, Bottema said.
ìWe anticipate a lot of households here,î she said.
A client list of 250 families is on hand and that number may increase now that Family Pathways is in Forest Lake. The agency will serve the entire Forest Lake area, including Wyoming and Scandia, she said.
Needs in FL
With the new food shelf now open, Bottema says the agency has volunteer needs and will recruit the help of local clubs and organizations for food drives.
LaCroix, 78, is one of the first to sign on in Forest Lake as a volunteer.
Although he helped out in Lindstrom after the move from Wyoming, pulling duty in Forest Lake is closer to home, he says.
LaCroix is retired and finds time to donate two days a week to Family Pathways. He will work in the food shelf and help pick up bakery and food items donated by local stores.
Generally, Bottema says, volunteers are needed who can work one or more three-hour shifts each week.
Bottema says she hopes to solicit the help of local clubs and organizations in form of food drives. ìThere are different projects throughout the year where we can use the help,î she said.
Bottema says she will be contacting area businesses for their help, too.
Cub Foods, Rainbow Foods and Wal-Mart are three of the area businesses that are already providing help. Crossroads Covenant Church is also helping out, she said.
ìIím just starting to talk to churches and businesses in the area,î Bottema said. ìItís a work in progress.î
The Family Pathways Food Pantry will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
For more information on volunteering or making a donation to the food pantry, call 651-464-2098.
Top of Page
