VHEDC nonprofits
NORTHEAST METRO NONPROFITS DOING ALL THEY CAN TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY
With the high rate of inflation , and increasing prices on just about everything these days , the Northeast Metro ’ s nonprofits are serving more people than ever before . That of course costs money to do , and because people have less money to give , donations are down .
Through our Nonprofits for Good program , VHEDC is doing all it can to support the great work our local
nonprofits do . Here is an update on the work our members are doing .
The White Bear Area Food Shelf
A nonprofit that has been hit especially hard by the downtrend is the White Bear Area Food Shelf . “ Our greatest need right now is financial support ,” said Perry Petersen , the nonprofit ’ s Executive Director . He said that during the pandemic a lot of time was spent focusing on providing for the incredible needs in the community and the organization ’ s programs . Not much focus was on the financial side of the business .
That is going to have to change in 2023 . “ There is going to be a lot of focus on right sizing the organization ’ s funding to be able to provide the right level of services ,” said Petersen , who added that rising food costs and issues with availability are going to be big challenges .
“ In the beginning of the pandemic and through 2021 , there was a lot of free or greatly reduced cost food through our food banks . Now there ’ s not an abundance of that as much , so we ’ re having to pay more for food ,” said Petersen . vhedc . com 27