Trading Christmas presents for food donations

12-year-old Marshall girl enjoys grocery shopping to help fill Food Shelf

MARSHALL -- The canned goods, boxes of non-perishable food and bottles of juice really stacked up, as 12-year-old Natalie Shuckhart helped fill a whole shopping cart with donations for the Kitchen Table Food Shelf in Marshall.

But the big surprise came after food shelf volunteer coordinator Lori Lerohl wheeled the cart inside to weigh the donation. Natalie had gathered 131 pounds of food, Lerohl said.

The news seemed to come as a shock to Natalie -- but a good one.

"It's really exciting," especially knowing all the food would go to people who needed it, she said. For the third year in a row, Natalie asked her family for food shelf donations instead of Christmas presents. On Monday, she and her parents dropped off the donations at the Kitchen Table.

It's something Natalie said she hopes to keep doing every Christmas.

"It would be fun for this to be a tradition," she said.

The idea of collecting food shelf donations instead of getting presents started out a few years back, said Natalie's mom Sue Shuckhart. One year, Natalie and her twin brother Ethan decided to collect food shelf donations for their birthday. And as a Boy Scout, Ethan had also been involved with food drives before. Then starting when she was 10 years old, Natalie decided to ask for food shelf donations instead of Christmas presents.

This Christmas, Natalie got money as well as food donations, so the Shuckharts were able to go out and make two shopping trips to add to the groceries she collected.

Natalie said the shopping was her favorite part of donating to the food shelf.

"Just seeing how much food we can buy," she said. Together with her family, she planned to pick out a variety of non-perishable food. At the store, "I take a calculator with me," and keep track of the total cost of the food until it matches the donation money, she said.

Lerohl said it was good to see the donation that Natalie brought in. The groceries would be enough for around 90 meals, she said.

"We really appreciate you" for donating, she told Natalie.

Lerohl said demand at the food shelf was "starting to pick up now," when area residents may not have the same level of support resources to draw on as they did earlier in the year.

Because of COVID-19 responses like emergency food support, unemployment insurance and free school meals, people may not have needed to use the food shelf, she said.

But while the need is growing, Lerohl said community donations to the Kitchen Table have also been strong. The level of support from area churches, schools, businesses and individuals like Natalie have been "just awesome," she said.