SUN Sailor Editions Plymouth/Wayzata

Sailor Lake crown Know the Truth Hopkins girls win conference title, may face Wayzata again in sections. Youth who have faced addiction share their stories. Page 13 Page 8 PLYMOUTH / WAYZATA Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 Kimberly Lane families celebrate cultures In the shadows: Homelessness often goes unseen in suburban areas Local organizations partner to assist growing number of families By KRISTEN MILLER [email protected] (SUN SAILOR STAFF PHOTO BY JASON JENKINS) Homelessness is often viewed as an urban issue; how- ever, the leaders of faith communities and local nonprofi ts are seeing a rising trend in the number of homeless people in the suburbs due to the lack of affordable housing. “Homelessness here in the west metro might not be as visible as it is in other places, but it is defi nitely pres- ent,” said Rev. Amber Ingalsbe of St. Barnabas Lutheran Church. At least once per week, staff members of the Plym- outh church are contacted by individuals or families who are living in their cars or bouncing between motels and A group of Bollywood dancers perform Feb. 22 during Kimberly Lane Elementary School’s International Night. The evening event cel- ebrated countries and cultures from around the world through food, colorful cultural outfi ts, activities, exhibits and performances. See page 9 for more photos. See Homeless , Page 2 Interfaith Outreach aims to raise $200K, collect 100,000 pounds of food By JASON JENKINS [email protected] Interfaith Outreach and Com- munity Partners will soon kick off its annual Prevent Hunger campaign, which aims to raise $200,000 and collect 100,000 pounds of food and household goods before the end of March. The money raised will be used for employment, food and family support services at In- terfaith Outreach’s Plymouth headquarters. Donated food and household items will stock the nonprofi t’s food shelf. The community-wide effort helps struggling families in the organization’s service area of Long Lake, Orono, Minneton- ka Beach, Hamel, Medicine Lake, Medina, Plymouth and Wayzata. According to Interfaith Out- reach, the nonprofi t has seen a 19 percent increase over the past 10 years in the amount of food and goods it has supplied to struggling families. In 2017, the organization distributed more than 1 million pounds of food to community members. Inter- 2019 Lake Minnetonka Wet Slips, Boat Club & Dry Stack Storage faith Outreach also noted that last year, more than 4,100 in- dividuals (44 percent of whom were children) needed the food shelf to stretch their budgets and prevent hunger. Prevent Hunger, which is a part of the larger MN Food- Share March Campaign, bol- sters the nonprofi t’s ongoing work to address hunger and the In/Out Service causes of hunger in the com- munity. Leaders with the nonprofi t said job loss, threat of evic- tion, medical problems and car breakdowns present big chal- lenges to local families lacking fi nancial resources. See Interfaith , Page 7 BOAT CLUB Memberships Available OPEN SATURDAY 11AM-2PM 952-471-9515 • West Arm–Lake Minnetonka • RockvamBoatYards.com Volume 49, No. 10 Index Opinion-Pages 4-5 Education-Pages 8-9 Public Safety-Pages 10-11 Business-Page 12 Sports-Pages 13-17 Calendar-Page 18 Classifieds-Pages 19-22 Sun Newspapers | 10917 Valley View Road Eden Prairie, MN 55344 sailor.mnsun.com facebook.com/MNSunSailor @MNSunSailor PUBLIC NOTICES: See page 18