Donations to the Minnesota FoodShare Food Fund are down a bit from last year, despite plenty of donations to local food shelves from several corporations around the state.

“With a little more than a week remaining in the March Campaign, I’m worried that gifts to the Minnesota FoodShare Food Fund aren’t measuring up this year,” Suzanne Shatila, director of Minnesota FoodShare said in a press release. “Last year we were able to raise a half million dollars and give it back to food shelves around the state. I was hoping for an even greater amount this year because there are so many still needing help.”

Even with an improving economy, many food shelves are seeing no decrease in the number of residents using their services and some are actually seeing an increase.

She added the Minnesota FoodShare Food Fund is a crucial component of the March Campaign for several reasons.

Every penny contributed to the Food Fund during the March Campaign is distributed to 300 food shelves throughout the state.

With every dollar these food shelves receive from the Food Fund, they can buy about $4 worth of food because of their purchasing power.

The March Campaign replenishes the shelves after the holidays. The Food Fund distribution comes at mid-summer, another crucial time for food shelves because donations slow and families and children need additional resources because school is not in session.

Even with the improving economy and jobs outlook, more than 500,000 Minnesotans are still going hungry. The March Campaign, the only food and fund drive of its kind, raises more than half the food distributed by 300 food shelves and every dollar donated to Minnesota FoodShare during the March Campaign goes directly to these food shelves.