Twin Cities food shelf raising money for generator after power outage forces it to toss nearly 6,000 pounds of food

Earlier this month, a power outage forced a Twin Cities food shelf to throw out nearly 6,000 pounds of food.

“We go through probably 72 cases of milk a week,” Kenny Gilman, logistics coordinator, said.

The walk-in refrigerator at PRISM food shelf in Golden Valley, Minnesota, is a busy place with cheese, eggs and milk as popular items. But on Sept. 20, a lightning strike caused a power outage at PRISM, and everything inside the fridge and freezer had to be thrown out.

“It is painful to waste,” said Gilman. “So yeah, it really is a bummer when we have to throw stuff out.”

To make matters worse, their thrift store was also temporarily shut down. The revenue from the store helps them buy the food they donate.

“We lost food. We lost revenue. We needed to call in a repair person to get the refrigerator fixed,” Michelle Ness, executive director, said.

The power outage happened at a time when donations are low, but need is at an all-time high. Right now, about 500 families a week are getting their food from PRISM. It’s a 20% increase from 2024, which was a record year.

“We need to have refrigerators and freezers running non-stop regardless of weather,” Ness said.

With that in mind, Ness said her food shelf is looking at raising money for a generator. Depending on the size, it’s a purchase that could cost anywhere from $15,000 to $80,000. But with demand the highest it’s ever been, it’s a purchase that could pay off.

“Food costs are going up. The number of people coming through the door is going up. This is exactly the type of thing we don’t want to have happen,” Ness said.

The power outage cost PRISM nearly $8,000 in total losses.