Power Outage Hits Golden Valley Food Shelf Hard Resulting in $7,500 Loss

Power Outage Hits Golden Valley Food Shelf Hard Resulting in $7,500 Loss

A Golden Valley food shelf is dealing with a costly loss after a power outage forced it to toss thousands of dollars worth of perishable food.

Power went out early Saturday, Sept. 20, at PRISM after lightning struck a nearby power line. Electricity wasn’t restored until 12 hours later. To add insult to injury, the food-shelf’s walk-in refrigerator blew a breaker once power came back on and needed professional repairs.

The result: nearly 2,700 pounds of refrigerated milk, cheese and deli items were thrown away. The power outage also caused PRISM to temporarily close Shop for Change, its thrift store which helps provide funds for the food shelf.

PRISM Executive Director Michelle Ness estimated the loss at $7,500 due to the power outage. She said nothing to this extent has happened before.

“Food safety is really critical,” said Ness. “And so there was a lot of milk we had to dispose of on Monday morning.”

Power outages have been an issue this summer with greater frequency around the Twin Cities, according to Xcel Energy.

That factor has PRISM working to raise funds for a backup generator — estimated to cost about $15,000 — so nothing like this will happen again.

“Food purchases is one of our largest expenses here at PRISM,” said Ness. “What this experience has really highlighted… of having more backup plans, a generator or otherwise is needed.”

It’s uncertain if an insurance claim would offset the $7,500 loss.

The loss also comes at a time when the need is great.

Food shelf visits increased 36 percent since last year at PRISM, many of them first-time visitors, said Ness. Those include seniors on fixed incomes and families dealing with health challenges.

“Despite this setback, our commitment to the community remains unwavering,” said Ness.

Donations to PRISM can be made to Prismmpls.org/donate/

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