WADENA – The new year is off to a great start with even more food and money donated to a local food shelf collected at the annual Christmas in Wadena fundraiser.
The 17th annual Christmas light show was held Nov. 28 through Jan. 1 in front of GP Anderson's home near Wadena-Deer Creek Elementary School. This year's event raised 311 pounds of food and $1,796.65, surpassing the 173 pounds of food and $1,373.39 collected last year.
“Starting Jan. 1, people living in any county will be able to stop at any food shelf,” said Anderson, who has transformed the exterior and yard of his home into a free Christmas attraction with thousands of lights every year since 2008.
Mary Ann Hagen, director of the Share of Wadena food shelf project, and Anderson unloaded and weighed the food collected to help stock the shelves on Thursday, Jan. 2.
“She said we are completely overwhelmed with the amount of people wanting food,” Anderson said.
Viewers of Christmas in Wadena were able to watch the outdoor light show from the comfort of a vehicle and listen to local station 88.1 FM, which played holiday music synchronized with Anderson's Christmas lights. Visitors were encouraged to donate food or money to Project Share.
Contributed / GP Anderson
Anderson said of Hagen and Project Share: “She said you just can't believe how many people come through here.”
According to the Christmas in Wadena website, since the holiday lighting event began in 2008, Christmas in Wadena has collected 6,407 pounds of food and $29,180.99 in donations for Project Share of Wadena, with 100% of it ending up on the grocery shelf.
“You put it up and you don't put a number that says, 'Oh, I'm going to get this much money,'” Anderson said of donations. “It’s always a pleasant surprise.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2023, 47.4 million people lived in food-insecure households and 12.2 million adults lived in households with very low food security.
“The causes are certainly numerous and great, but people need to eat,” said Anderson as the reason he started Christmas in Wadena.
In 2023, according to USDA, 7.2 million children lived with adults in food-insecure households, and 841,000 children (1.2% of the nation's children) lived in households where one or more children's food security was very low.
Contributed / GP Anderson
“To truly alleviate hunger in our community, it is important that we first change the mindset behind hunger relief,” Anderson said. “Today it is of course important to provide a bag of groceries to a person in need. But how do we ensure that this person is not in need tomorrow?”
In Wadena County, 9% of the population did not have a reliable source of food or adequate access to food, according to an analysis of 2021 data from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a program of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
“Implementing sustainable systems that feed our neighbors in immediate need while helping them get back on their feet and help others is key to ending the cycle of hunger,” Anderson said.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that providing information to our hungry neighbors about available resources is as important as the food source itself. What good is a food source if no one knows about it?”
FRANK LEE is the features writer for the Wadena Pioneer Journal. He can be reached at 218-631-6470 or at
flee@wadenapj.com
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Frank Lee is a multi-award winning journalist and features writer for the Wadena Pioneer Journal. The weekly newspaper is owned by Forum Communications Co.