Needs exceed supplies at food distribution event

Volunteers braved the cold weather Thursday to distribute 1,200 boxes of food to area residents in need. And they did it faster than organizers had planned.
"We ran out of food a little before 1 p.m.," said Andi Arnold, outreach and grant director for Community Pathways. The event was scheduled to end at 3:30 p.m.
Running out of food is a first for the organization's Truck to Trunk event in Owatonna. In each of four previous distribution events, Arnold said Community Pathways handed out food to around 900 families.
Arnold said anyone who did not get a food box and is in need should call Community Pathways at 507-455-2991 or visit the organization's website at www.communitypathwayssc.org to register and get food through Community Pathways' Marketplace.
Those who were able to pick up food on Thursday received a pre-packaged box containing 22 pounds of food, including 5 pounds of meat, 5 pounds of dairy, 12 pounds of produce, and a gallon of milk.
Rebecca Rand, the housing coordinator for the South Central Human Relations Center's supportive housing program, said her clients were very grateful for the food boxes. 
"They don't often get fresh produce," she said, adding that a box of food will feed one client for a month.
In her position, Rand said she works with single adults who are long-term homeless with severe mental illness, along with clients who are at risk of becoming homeless.
Community Pathways partnered with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the food giveaway.
Through the USDA's Farmers to Families Food Box program, USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service works with national, regional and local distributors, whose workforces have been significantly impacted by the closure of restaurants, hotels and other food service businesses because of COVID-19, to purchase up to $6 billion in fresh produce, dairy and meat.
There were no income guidelines for the program, allowing Community Pathways to give out food to anyone in need during this difficult time.
To date, USDA contractors have delivered more than 138.6 million boxes of fresh produce, milk, dairy and cooked meats to disadvantaged Americans across the country.