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The  Viking Vittles program, which distributes food and necessities to North Branch School District #138 families with children, has thrown a wide net over the community since it started in 2019.  

~ There are residents at Ecumen long term care center helping prepare the food bags. 

~ Pupils enrolled in the alternative learning Lifeworks Center help pack food items. 

~ The local EMS squad periodically donates transport and delivery of storage tubs. 

~ And two churches— St John’s in Stacy and Trinity Lutheran, North Branch, are also deeply involved with storage, financial support and manpower.  Viking Vittles organizer Donna Setter says the effort relies on dozens of eager helpers with the goal to make Viking Vittles as long-lived and efficient as possible.

The program has also grown since 2019 to provide toiletries and sundries through “Care Closets” at the middle school, alternative learning center  and high school, where individuals can select what they need.  A well-stocked closet will contain about $2,000 in inventory.  Garments are collected and made available as well.  

“I am surprised” Setter explained,  at how frequently local families identify themselves as needing food, clothes, winter wear, even shelter.  County social workers estimate 15 percent of families in North Branch school district’s general area have food worries and day-to-day living difficulties.

Setter reports Viking Vittles has annual expenses around $57,000.  

Trinity processes 288 bags of food for students to take home on weekends.  St John’s in Stacy will pack 56 bags for weekend consumption for families residing towards the south end of the district.

Viking Vittles (like the backpack nutrition program used in Chisago Lakes) was set up to meet weekend nutrition needs,  stemming from concerns that students might not have meals when school is not in session.  The students and/or family will let staff know at the school if they wish to participate and the food bags are discreetly placed inside of youths’ backpacks. Setter said this alone takes a couple hours total.

North Branch does have a Family Pathways food shelf site;  but centrally-located food shelf facilities are  geared more towards longer range meal planning, offering on-site quantity grocery distribution.  Viking Vittles fills a briefer food window and the items go directly to the home.  The bags also contain a coupon for dairy milk donated from Kwik Trip.  And, over summer break there were sites scattered around the district where people could find grab and go food items.

The City of North Branch lent the program support at the start of covid-19 restrictions three years ago— with $20,000 from CARES Act monies.  Setter is hoping city officials can find some level of funding to help for 2024 and she was at the council meeting last week sharing a Viking Vittles video.  

Ideally, if everybody who is able, would contribute a $15 “sponsorship” to pay for a month’s worth of  $4 bags of weekend food items, Viking Vittles would be on a good footing. 

To donate see trinitynorthbranch.org for the on-line giving form. 

Put Viking Vittles in memo line if you send a check,  so it goes into a seperate account. Mailing address is Trinity Church P.O. Box 447, North Branch. MN 55056.

Email for more details at outreach@trinitynorth branch.org

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