The Salvation Army is serving five times the usual number of Twin Cities residents in need this summer, handing out more food boxes and grappling with full emergency shelter beds.

"That's the number that keeps you up at night," said Lt. Col. Dan Jennings, who leads the Salvation Army Northern Division, which includes Minnesota and North Dakota. "[The pandemic] just exaggerated the need."

The organization anticipates a rise in need when mortgage and rent eviction moratoriums end. That's why the nonprofit on Wednesday launched a special summer fundraiser, hoping to raise $500,000 to bolster its budget as expenses rise.

The fundraiser, "Down for the Challenge," is recruiting 350 Minnesotans to rappel 14 stories down a Mall of America office tower and parking lot Sept. 17-18 in Bloomington, with each person raising at least $1,000 to support the Salvation Army.

It's the largest summer fundraiser event the local Salvation Army has done, said marketing director Angel Fields Mitchell. Details can be found at DownForTheChallenge.com.

The Salvation Army, which has a $28 million annual budget, helps 155,000 people each year in the metro area with meals, shelters and other social services. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the nonprofit had seen a 3% increase in the number of homeless people seeking services. But the pandemic has amplified the needs, Jennings said.

ANTHONY SOUFFLE • Star Tribune, Star Tribune

While the nonprofit added more metro emergency shelter beds during the pandemic, it anticipates that more Minnesotans will need help. An estimated 62,000 Minnesota households are behind in rent and at risk of losing their home, according to researchers at PolicyLink.

Darlene Phillips boarded a bus from Houston to Minneapolis in 2014 to attend the Salvation Army's drug treatment program. By 2015, Phillips not only had received the help she needed, she had landed a job with the organization. She now works as a shelter manager at the Harbor Light Center, assisting others who are struggling.

"People need this; they just need help to get back on their feet," Phillips said.

Minnesotans gave in 2020 with unprecedented levels of generosity. The Salvation Army's annual red kettle campaign drew a record $15 million.

This year, a food drive in March collected 2 million pounds of food to restock the Salvation Army's nine metro food pantries.

Jennings said he hopes Minnesotans don't ease up on giving more.

"We're painfully aware of donor fatigue," he said.

Kelly Smith • 612-673-4141