Mercer Area Food Pantry sees drastic increase in demand

By CHARITY SMITH

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MERCER, Wis. — The Mercer Area Food Pantry has seen a dramatic increase in the demand for food since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to pantry board member Louise Minisan.

“My numbers are at least a thousand (people) a week that we are feeding, and that’s pretty huge for Mercer,” Minisan told the Daily Globe. “Previously, we had about 350 people per week that we serviced.”

The pantry handles food distribution twice weekly.

On Wednesdays they distribute dairy products from the state’s milk recovery program, handing out milk, yogurt and...