'Baskets Of Hope' Will Feed Thousands This Thanksgiving

PINE CITY, Minn. (WCCO) -- The door doesn't stop swinging at Angels of Hope emergency food shelf in rural Pine City. Unlike most charity food pantries, this one is operated out of Len Slama's home. When the donations aren't enough to keep the shelves stocked, he satisfies the need out of his own pocket.

"Got some squash, a turkey, pie," daughter Traci says, as she reveals the contents of a Thanksgiving meal charity called "Baskets of Hope."

It's a project of the Emergency Foodshelf Network based in New Hope.

On Wednesday, Traci was busy handing out the boxes to area families in need. Unfortunately, the need is greater than the number of boxes received. They were allocated 36 Thanksgiving meal baskets and all of them have been spoken for.

"We're really lucky to have the Emergency Foodshelf Network helping us out because if they didn't, we wouldn't have all this food," she said.

To folks like Lori Pietruszewski, charity isn't something she wants. Rather, it's what she needs just to get by. She lost both her house and her job in a recent fire and has a 6-year-old son who can't go hungry.

"That's how I was raised," Pietruszewski said. "You go without before asking for help until it gets down to the dire need -- and I need food, you know."

Tragically, a still faltering economy is forcing more and more families into foodshelves like Traci's. The stress of trying to keep up with the growing demand for food is too much at times. She breaks down in tears and is comforted by the very people she is trying to help.

Traci and her father Len, were given 36 of the baskets of hope this year, but that doesn't come close to satisfying the need. They say they could easily have handed out three times that number of baskets.

So at the Emergency Foodshelf Network's warehouse in New Hope, more baskets of hope are boxed up for delivery. Each $30 donation is enough to fill a basket with all the food necessary to feed a family of seven their Thanksgiving day dinner.

"They'd be surprised what we can do," adds Traci.

That's because hunger isn't letting up and foodshelves like the Slama's Angels of Hope won't turn anyone away.

If you would like to support the Emergency Foodshelf Network's Baskets of Hope project, you can donate online at www.emergencyfoodshelf.org or call (763) 450-3860.