Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to accurately reflect most recent hunger statistics and Mountain Family Center’s food pantry visits in 2023.

Although temperatures might say otherwise, spring is officially here. This means the countdown to Mountain Family Center’s Drop Hunger campaign has begun.

This winter, Mountain Family Center placed a brightly orange-colored refrigerator on the Lions Club Pond in Fraser. Community members can register to guess when the fridge will fall through the pond. The person who guesses closest to the minute will receive half of the ticket sales, and Mountain Family Center will receive the other half.

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Those ready to try their luck can register to guess at MountainFamilyCenter.org until March 31.

Mountain Family will use the funds to stock their two food pantries in Granby and Kremmling, as well as for other services, such as the children’s totes program.

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According to Hunger Free Colorado, 16% of Colorado children and 33% of Coloradans face food insecurity, meaning they struggle to access nutritious food. While Feeding America shows Grand County’s 2020 food insecurity rate at 9.7%, Mountain Family feels that their food pantry visits paint the truest picture of need in Grand County.

In 2022, they helped just over 3,200 unique individuals. Those individuals represent over 20% of Grand County’s population experiencing food insecurity. 

In recent years, the nonprofit has seen an increase in community members experiencing hunger. In 2020, there were 9,053 visits to the Mountain Family’s food pantries. There were 8,478 visits in 2021 and 11,149 in 2022. In 2023, Mountain Family has counted 1,733 pantry visits through February.

Helen Sedlar, Executive Director of Mountain Family, stated that the nonprofit spent $225,000 on groceries in 2022 to keep their pantries stocked. Sedlar added that Mountain Family is on the same course to meet or exceed that same grocery expenditure for 2023. Current food pantry visits are up 25% compared to this time last year.

Drop Hunger is in partnership with the Fraser River Valley Lions Club, the Town of Fraser and the East Grand Fire Protection District #4.

Editor’s Note: The author of this article, Meg Soyars, is the community programs coordinator with the Mountain Family Center.