Snap Food Drive

On October 1, 2025, the federal government shut down and has been shut down since; this is one of the longest government shutdowns that we have seen in U.S. history. Thus far, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has been halted for the month of November. The freeze on SNAP will affect millions of Americans. Norah Fimple, Abigail McMillin, and Charlie Nierman saw this and wanted to help, starting right here, at UMD.

Fimple, McMillin, and Nierman, along with the Inspiring Educators, can assemble a food drive for the Duluth community. For this upcoming week, there will be six food drive boxes available for donations from November 3rd to November 7th. 

These boxes are located all across campus: Kirby Student Center, Education Office, Swenson Dean’s Office, Voss Kovach, Art and Design, and Bohannan 83. Additionally, there are two locations off campus: Burrito Union and Pulse Bar & Fitness.

“This was just an idea. We didn’t know so many people would want to be involved, “ Fimple noted when asked about how she was able to start this. At an elementary school where Fimple worked, 85% of the students lived at or below the poverty line. “Students I was working with and had a connection with might not have food on the table,” Fimble commented.

At the end of the week, the trio plans to drop off the boxes at five different public schools in the Duluth area.

Highly requested food items would be filling foods, such as protein bars. This is to keep people fuller for longer periods of time. Other food items that are requested would be non-perishable foods. Scanning the QR code will show other items that can help those in need.

If the food drive boxes are a success, the group plans to keep the boxes going for as long as possible, to help as many kids and families as they can. This will be decided on a week-by-week basis.