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With no Holiday Train, food shelf looking to make up for key monetary and food donations

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Last year’s Holiday Train stop in Marquette brought in $9,362.69, including $5,500 from Canadian Pacific Railway, $619 from Casino Queen Marquette and over $3,000 from visitors who placed cash in donation buckets or gave a contribution for cookies and hot chocolate. Nearly 1,800 pounds of food was also collected. (Photo by Audrey Posten)

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train typically visits Marquette this time of year, bringing its dazzling light display and live music show to a crowd in the marina parking lot. The event also serves as one of the biggest donation campaigns for the Clayton County Food Shelf.

However, this fall, Canadian Pacific announced that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it would not operate the Holiday Train for the first time since its launch in 1999. Although Canadian Pacific has vowed to donate to food banks in communities along its network and host a virtual concert in lieu of the regular program, the move left Clayton County Food Shelf Director Utoni Ruff wondering how she’d compensate for those contributions, especially at a time when demand is greater.

“My numbers were at 84 families per month through March 15, before the pandemic,” Ruff said. “It spiked to well over 200 and, now, it’s 174 families per month. That’s twice the normal.”

The food shelf has received some generous donations since this spring, including from the Upper Mississippi Gaming Corporation and Farm Bureau, and Ruff picks up items from the Monona and McGregor Kwik Stars twice each week. Area organizations, businesses and individuals came together to donate turkeys for Thanksgiving, while others help supply potatoes for holiday meals. Local schools, businesses and Scout groups are currently spearheading food drives. 

Ruff also credited people who have helped store food shelf supplies. For example, the First Congregational Church in McGregor allows her to use a garage to house six large chest freezers, and Johnson’s Restaurant in Elkader stored the Thanksgiving turkeys in their walk-in freezer. The Clayton County Dairy Promotion Committee helped Ruff obtain a dairy cooler.

“It’s been a godsend,” she said.

Ruff is still concerned, though.

Last year’s Holiday Train stop in Marquette brought in $9,362.69, including $5,500 from Canadian Pacific, $619 from Casino Queen Marquette and over $3,000 from visitors who placed cash in donation buckets or gave a contribution for cookies and hot chocolate. Nearly 1,800 pounds of food was also collected.

“This is always the biggest time of year,” Ruff said.

Before, the food shelf could also rely on a boost from area churches, who regularly collected items. But the pandemic has hurt that donation stream.

“Donations have totally gone down,” she said. “For awhile, most churches were closed. Now, a lot of people aren’t going to church.”

This year, hunters will also be unable to have venison donated through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Help Us Stop Hunger (HUSH) Program processed for free at Edgewood Locker. Hunters, or the food shelf, could still pay to have it processed, though. Ruff anticipates this will lose the food shelf four to six tons of free meet.

How can community members help? Monetary donations are welcome, allowing Ruff to order the items she needs. Checks can be mailed to the Clayton County Food Shelf, P.O. Box 48, Saint Olaf, IA 52072.

After the holidays, donated meat is also welcome. Donations cannot be home processed, and certain types of meat, including beef, pork, lamb and emu, must be federally inspected.

Volunteer to help with the Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation’s (NEICAC) food pantry delivery program. Since the pandemic, Ruff has been working more hours than ever. This includes making deliveries to families in need—a service that wasn’t previously offered. At the end of April, NEICAC began helping with Clayton County deliveries on Wednesday mornings. Items are loaded into a transit vehicle at the food shelf and delivered to the doorsteps of families. If interested, people can contact Wendy at (563) 387-4930.

The service is safe for both volunteers and families, Ruff assured.

“When we deliver, there’s no contact with clients,” she said. “I’ve not been in any house. I leave things at the door, on the front steps or at the curb.”

The Clayton County Food Shelf, located at 100 W. Hill St., in Saint Olaf, remains open normal hours, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m., with safety precautions in place. The food shelf can also be reached at (563) 783-7794.

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