 Over the weekend, a community came together to help less fortunate families have a happy holiday. Our Josh Peterson has more on this week's Community Spotlight. Through the use of an assembly line, one by one, bags of groceries began to fill a large semi-trailer in an effort to help the Bemidji community food shelf. Over the weekend, shoppers at Marketplace Foods shopped and dropped off bags of food to help stuff a truck. Let's try to get as much as we possibly can and hope for the best. I don't know if because of the economy or what the reason is, but it just seems like it's up a little bit this year. So that's good news, I think. The Stuff-A-Truck food drive has been a staple in Bemidji for 26 years and has become a reliable source for food and income for the Bemidji community food shelf as the holidays approach. People don't understand always that more than half our food we have to purchase. So the stores couldn't, they donate, they're very generous, but they can't give us everything they have. So we have a variety of fundraisers and the Stuff-A-Truck event is a major contributor to our inventory. Since last year, the food shelf has seen a growing need in the area, adding more importance to this particular food drive. As of October 1st, we were 1,000 visits ahead of last year at the same time. Wow. 1,000 is a big number. So that's why this is so important to be stocked with. While some simply dropped off a donation, others made their donation while grocery shopping. Over the weekend, customers shopping at Marketplace Foods had the opportunity to purchase items to Stuff-A-Truck, items ranging from cereal to canned goods, items like canned vegetables and fruits. Marketplace Foods made it easy for shoppers to purchase a pre-filled bag loaded with necessities for the food shelf. These paper bags filled with food was an easy way for shoppers to help fill the truck. We have a lot of people, employees, you know, they're making the bags and they're asking people to purchase the bags and very active in promoting the event. With a goal of 24,000 pounds of food and a monetary goal of $4,000, the hope is that the community will come together to help all families have a happy holiday. With this week's community spotlight in Bemidji, Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.