The Aggie Foundation supports local efforts to fight hunger in the local community.
MINOT, North Dakota – Thanks to the Aggie Foundation, a $1000 donation to Velva Community Food Pantry was made to help support local efforts to end hunger in our communities.
Pastor Sue Lynn White, Food Pantry Manager and Member of the Advisory Board, shared the importance of having a local food pantry.
“We have seen a huge increase in the amount of people who are in need of the food pantry services. When I took this over, March of ‘21, we were serving anywhere from 10-15 households a month and now we are serving anywhere from 20-30 households a month. The need is great in this area,” Sue Lynn said.
“At the time when he (Terry Peterson, Aggie Foundation Board President) had reached out and we were talking, the food pantry…was being severely depleted because of the cost of trying to keep food in the food pantry and we were starting to get a little worried. It was a real blessing that he saw that we were doing the food drive and he wanted to participate in a way and that the Aggie Foundation wanted to be able to help.”
The Velva Community Food Pantry is an organization that is a needs-based pantry and supports Velva and the surrounding communities. Needs-based means that they do not ask persons for income levels to determine if they are able to receive food. Being needs-based, the pantry is able to help out in times of tragedy or crisis, the pantry can still help out. All of the monetary donations that they collect go towards collecting food for the pantry.
“One of the best ways to help out our small towns is to support their food pantries. These pantries provide a vital service and they need our help to continue to operate.” said Terry Peterson, Aggie Foundation Board President.
“When a community comes together to support a food pantry, it shows that they are compassionate and care about their neighbors, and we certainly care about our Velva neighbors!”
The Aggie Foundation supports a broad spectrum of local organizations in fulfilling their missions in North Dakota. In the past year, the Aggie Foundation has donated over $20,000 to needs-based food programming across North Dakota. Velva Alumni make up 7 of the Board of Directors for the Aggie Foundation.
The Aggie Foundation was established in 2012 by a group of friends from Velva, ND. The Foundation initially supported its mission of charitable giving via a modest, yearly scholarship provided to a Senior from Velva who excelled in Biology. They began to help raise funds for citizens in need, schools, youth sports, and local organizations or groups doing good things in Velva and the surrounding communities. Their expansion as a broad grant-provider and community partner allows them to support organizations across North Dakota working with community leaders to identify which organizations are in need of economic assistance.