As needs rise at Grand Forks food pantries, community members step up to meet them

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is part of a Grand Forks Herald series about food insecurity in the region.

GRAND FORKS — Amid federal funding cuts and rising food prices, the need for food pantries in Greater Grand Forks is only growing, according to providers, and community members are rising to the occasion in hopes of keeping these services available.

Mark Miller, executive director of HC Community Care Center and Food Pantry, said the pantry has been consistently providing food to an average of 350 households per month for the last couple of years.

"Since we do have the 'guest choice,' appointment system, we're limited on how many that we can serve, based on the volunteer capacity and all of those factors," Miller said. "If our appointments fill up for the week, we refer to other