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The Buffalo Food Shelf is located at 301 12th Ave South, 3 blocks east of Highway 55 behind Super America.

This Sunday, March 7, remember to bring in some of the items needed to fill Easter baskets that will be distributed through the Buffalo Food Shelf as part of this year’s Lenten community outreach program. Some of the items needed are boxes of potatoes and dessert mixes, and they can be dropped off in the net behind the boat in the lobby/narthex or in collection bins throughout the building. Cash donations are also accepted and will be used to purchase the needed items at wholesale prices (checks should be made out to Zion with ‘food shelf’ in the memo.

Click here for the full list of items needed

After church, grab brunch at Bryan John’s Grillworks, where from 9am-2pm they are donating 20% of the day’s brunch tickets to the Buffalo Food Shelf.

In the afternoon, stop by the Food Shelf between 2-4pm for a tour of the facility and learn how the food shelf operates. The Food Shelf is hosting an Open House as part of Minnesota FoodShare’s March Campaign.  Refreshments will be served!

One of every seventeen Minnesotans relies upon food shelves to help feed their families. Last year, there were 2 million food shelf visits that distributed 47,000,000 lbs of food.

Even in Buffalo, one can easily see the signs of a once robust economy turned into empty office spaces, empty retail stores, and vacant homes. This past year the Buffalo Food Shelf serviced 13,520 of our friends and neighbors with 370,000 lbs of food.

This Sunday, February 28, plan to grab a cup of coffee and head to Zion’s Library/Chapel at 9:45am to hear from Jill Ask, Director of the Buffalo Food Shelf, about how the Buffalo Food Shelf works and how members of Zion can get involved with helping our neighbors through the Buffalo Food Shelf beyond our current Easter Basket project.

Members of Zion have stood up and cared about the needs of others and we have increased our Food Shelf contributions tremendously in the past two years through both regular contributions and special holiday meals.Here is another great opportunity to show people in our community Zion’s continued commitment to carry out our mission ―to serve others in need. Let us again stand up and take the hand of our neighbor and say, I am with you; I care. The Social Ministry committee’s Lenten Easter Basket project is a great way to do that.

Zion’s mission partner for March will be the Buffalo Food Shelf.  This is a Christian based organization that provides food and hygiene items to residents of Buffalo in need.  March is National Food Share Month and Zion will be collecting contents and assembling Easter Baskets containing meals to feed over one thousand men, women and children in our community.  This year we will also be doing the distributing of these baskets at Zion on Tuesday, March 30.  Specific food and volunteer needs will be available sometime in February.

During the month of September, the Buffalo Food Shelf distributed 33, 671 pounds of food to help feed 1004 men, women and children. This included 127 first time recipients. This was a record month for the Food Shelf which services people in the Buffalo community and they need help to continue their efforts. Zion members have always been great contributors to the Food Shelf. You can continue to help in these ways:

1. Bring in non-perishable food items and place in the grocery cart ( in the hallway near the choir room).
2. In November we will be displaying a beautiful HOPE Candle that you can use to light your Thanksgiving table. Donations for this candle will be used to help defray the cost of a Family Thanksgiving meal that will be distributed by the Buffalo Food Shelf. Recommended donation will be $15+.
3. For the Food Shelf Christmas Meal Basket distribution, Zion will again be supplying the dessert that will be included with the meal. Please watch the December newsletter and bulletins for further information on how you can help with that project.
4. Money contributions are always welcome—envelopes are available at the information booth or Church Office!

Any help that you can give to feed the hungry right here in our community is appreciated!

Volunteers bagging Easter meals last night:

Zion will again this year be helping feed the hungry of our community by providing Easter Dinners. Last year we collected, gathered, decorated, and filled 180 bags for distribution by the Buffalo Food Shelf. This year, with the current economic situation, the demand has increased dramatically and we are being asked to provide 250 meals!

During the month of March, please help to meet this commitment. Fill the church food shelf baskets with:

• Boxes of instant mashed potatoes
• Cans of green beans
• Cans of fruit
• Boxes of Jell-O
• Cans or packets of gravy
• Boxes of dessert mixes

Money contributions are also always accepted. They will be used to help buy the hams which will be included in the baskets.