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   In the past 25 years, the Longville Area Food Shelf and Tossed & Found Boutique have become a valuable part of the Longville community. Through the loyalty and generous support of our friends and neighbors, we have been able to continue to fulfill our mission to “involve our communities to end hunger.” Thank you to our many generous supporters, donors, and customers.  Without all of your support, we could not give our friends and neighbors a helping hand during times when they are struggling to make ends meet. 

   The Food Shelf’s pre-COVID usage averaged 97 families per month.  Our current usage averages 160 families per month and continues to increase. This is a whopping 65% increase in food shelf usage!  Our food bank is struggling to acquire enough affordable food for the area Food Shelves.  This means we need to purchase some of our food at wholesale prices.  This has dramatically increased our food cost since 2022 (97% increase). 

   Tossed & Found has been in operation for over 17 years and has become a “favorite place to stop and shop” while in Longville.  Proceeds from Tossed & Found pay 100% of the overhead costs of both the Tossed & Found and the Food Shelf.  This means that 100% of your monetary donations are used to purchase food and provide basic needs emergency assistance for our food shelf shoppers. Tossed & Found started out as a very small clothing depot run by Food Shelf Volunteers out of the basement of an old church, then in 2007 Tossed & Found opened their doors.  Over the years we have grown and moved to a larger space. We have been able to offer employment to several people.  We currently employ 2 full-time, 4 part-time, and 2 summer interns.  In addition, we have an average of 120 volunteers who work at the Food Shelf and Tossed & Found Boutique.

   Due to this growth and the increasing number of food shelf shoppers, a new full-time position of Store Manager has been established at Tossed & Found. Adding this position to run the day-to-day store operation will enable the Executive Director, Andrea Richard, to assure that we provide for the needs of our community, oversee the operations of both the food shelf and Tossed & Found, expand our community outreach, and implement the strategic goals of the organization.

   Going forward, we will continue to look for ways to better serve the Longville community and are humbled by and grateful for your ongoing support. 

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