As senior Bird Feeder manager Amra Mucic stocks the sparse shelves of the in-school food shelf, she comments on the decrease in donations and the increase in demand.

“Our requests have increased a lot,” Mucic said. “Usually before the winter break we would have maybe six to eight (requests), but now we get more than 10.”

Adviser Sophia Ross said this year the Bird Feeder has received nearly twice as many food requests as last year.

“They’ve doubled compared to last year, and I don’t know if it’s just because of awareness of this service or if students really are in need,” Ross said.

While more students are requesting food, fewer students are donating, according to senior manager Fiona Gabay.

“Donations have been really slow lately,” Gabay said.

Ross said the decrease in donations may be because of the recent lack of publicity for the food shelf.

“We really haven’t had any requests for donations or we haven’t had any food drives or we haven’t done any big PR pushes,” Ross said.

Freshman Isaac Wert said he felt discouraged by the decline in donations.

“It upsets me that people are less willing to assist their community, and feed those who do not have food,” Wert said.

Ross said she encouraged students in her community service classes to come up with ways to increase donations for the Bird Feeder.

“One of their jobs in class was to do some brainstorming on how we could plan another food drive or how we could get more donations,” Ross said.

Mucic said students can help out by donating or by getting the word out to places such as their churches, mosques or synagogues and by inviting the Bird Feeder to events at these places.

“We would always love to come by and talk about the Bird Feeder,” Mucic said.

Mucic said the food shelf needs cereal, macaroni and cheese, rice, canned chicken, bread, peanut butter, and fruits and vegetables.

According to Mucic, by donating and spreading the word, students can help the Bird Feeder accomplish its mission.

“It’s a food shelf operated by students for students to increase the community vibe in St. Louis Park, but also to help the students who really need it,” Mucic added.