Emergency Food Giveaway Helps 370 Local Families

If your faith is strong, you believe God will provide. In tough times, you are also grateful for a little extra help, and that’s what the Grant County Christian Service Council is founded on.

The council in cooperation with Feeding South Dakota held an emergency food drive on Thursday, April 2 in Milbank. Co-coordinators Brenda Maas and LeAnn Kuper, report 370 area families received 7000 pounds of food in spite of intense weather conditions.

The giveaway was scheduled for 2 p.m., but things didn’t go off without a hitch. Before coming to Milbank, the Feeding South Dakota semi first had to make deliveries in Webster and Roslyn. Maas says, “In Webster, the truck got stuck in the parking lot and had to be pulled out by a tractor. This put him behind schedule. After leaving Roslyn, he encountered icy roads, which further delayed his arrival in Milbank.”

For the first half hour of the giveaway, the weather only threatened. After that, it forced 18 volunteers to slog through sleet and ice to distribute the three and a half tons of food. And there were so many cars! Would they have enough?

The council usually expects 175-200 families. They had boldly upped their order to 300 for the emergency giveaway, but the cars kept rolling in and the boxes kept flying out.

In the end, did they have enough? The last vehicle through the line received the last box of food!

Amazing but true. There were exactly 70 extra pre-packaged boxes left on the truck from the stops in Webster and Roslyn. Maybe not the same as Jesus, five loaves, and two fish, but a miracle nonetheless.

Maas said it all went swimmingly, because the volunteers were so helpful, the recipients so patient, and the Milbank Police Department so cooperative. She added Linda Comstock, Val Van Lith, and Roger Schwandt also offered much appreciated support.

The Grant County Christian Service Council and Feeding South Dakota will hold their first planned giveaway of 2020 on May 6. The location and time will be announced as soon as possible. Keep up with The Valley Express for all the details.