High levels of use and low levels of donations are leaving the cupboards bare at PROP (People Reaching out to Other People), said executive director Anne Harnack.

“I think this is part of our reality in the summer,” she said of lower donations, “but I think we’re getting more people using the food shelf than ever before, people who maybe have never used the food shelf in the past, but are having crises in their lives that are forcing them to use it as a supplement.”

In the summer, children are at home and don’t have the support of school lunches and snacks as they do during the school year.

Harnack said that in July of this year, PROP served 440 households. Last July the organization’s food shelf served 329 households.

“The need is growing,” she said. “I think we served over 50 households in one day.

“More families accessing that have never done it before because of a crisis and I think that’s really significant, because of the economy, because of layoffs, because of medical issues,” Harnack said.

Some items needed most include healthy snacks, like granola bars; the food shelf is very low on staples, pasta mixes, spaghetti sauce, boxed mashed potatoes, canned vegetables and fruit. In addition, Harnack suggested pancake mix, syrup, instant oatmeal and canned tomatoes.

Hopes were high for Tuesday’s Night Out events, where donations for PROP were being collected.

“We’re hopeful about that,” Harnack said. “We’re excited that’s happening when it is.”

But, she pointed out, “we need donations. We really need the community to consider some of the specific items I talked about, keeping in mind children being home during the summer and the decrease in donations.”

In addition, this time of year PROP is collecting school supplies at Eden Prairie Center near the Target entrance. More than 700 children have signed up to receive the supplies.

More information about PROP, a nonprofit social service agency serving Chanhassen and Eden Prairie, can be found at www.propfood.org. The Web site has a list of most-needed items.

– Karla Wennerstrom