During one of this fall's busiest sports weekends, volunteers at St. Paul, Minnesota's, Allianz Field were focused not on a game Saturday, but a much bigger mission.

"I feel that food is just a basic human necessity," said volunteer Pete Wilson. "There are more people than ever now in this state that don't know where their next meal is coming from."

In Minnesota, about one in five families is struggling with food insecurity. Minnesotans made 9 million trips to food shelves last year.

Advocates say that as demand increases, help from the federal government is shrinking.

"The federal cuts and changes in policy we're seeing right now are important," said Sarah Moberg, CEO of Second Harvest Heartland.

Second Harvest is doing something they've never done before — giving away food to 1,800 families at a large-scale food distribution and community resource fair.

"It is frustrating," said Adero Riser Cobb, President and CEO of Keystone Community Services. "We'd like to say that we'd like to work ourselves out of a job, meaning everyone has the food."

She says the reality is that many Minnesota households need extra food support.

"I've raised three kids. The thought of kids going to bed hungry every night, trying to go to school when they're hungry, I'm just not ok with that," said Wilson.

Both Second Harvest and Keystone Community Services say they need donations and volunteers. You can find more information on their websites.