The FOOD Pantry Serving Waukesha County

Earlier this week, we received a brand new refrigerator for use in our client service area. We want to thank Hunger Task Force who was awarded the USDA Reach & Resiliency Funding through Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The purpose of the initiative was to strengthen the capacity and infrastructure of TEFAP serving organizations. Hunger Task Force awarded The FOOD Pantry a commercial refrigerator. Today, thanks to our volunteer electrician Rich, who donated his services to wire an outlet for our new refrigerator, it is up and running! The new refrigerator will be used for our Express and Scheduled Order Services. The FOOD Pantry Food Resource Manager, Zach Trafton, stated, "This refrigerator is greatly appreciated and needed. It will ensure our milk and dairy products will remain at safe temperatures during service, while making it more convenient for our volunteers to access the product for prompt delivery to our clients."

Thank you to Hydro-Thermal Corporation for volunteering today and assembling and packing our Home Delivery boxes. Staff from Hydro-Thermal Corporation have been volunteering with The FOOD Pantry for a long time and their time and effort is always appreciated. The boxes they assembled and packed today will be delivered to our home delivery clients twice this month to ensure they get the food and nutrition they need. Thank you for your support and your upcoming food drive!

Thank you to the volunteers from American Family Insurance for joining us last night and sorting the food received from recent food drives and donations at The FOOD Pantry. Your support and efforts ensure that food received this week will be on shelves for our clients by the end of the week. Thank you for your ongoing support American Family Insurance. If you would like to have your group volunteer at The FOOD Pantry, please contact our Community Engagement Coordinator, jeremy@waukeshafoodpantry.org.

Thank you to the staff at Waukesha County, WI, Waukesha County Sheriff's Department, Waukesha County Health & Human Services, and Waukesha County Communications for supporting us and the community by hosting a food drive this past month. They donated 704 pounds of food to support The FOOD Pantry and the clients we serve. Thank you for your support and generosity!

The FOOD Pantry was fortunate to again be chosen to be Wilde Subaru's partner for their 2024 annual Share the Love Event. From November 21, 2024, until January 2, 2025, Wilde Subaru donated $250 per vehicle sold or leased, and $5 for every routine service visit to The FOOD Pantry. This past Friday we learned this year's Share the Love event exceeded our wildest expectations and they will be donating $50,566 to The FOOD Pantry! We are overwhelmed with the response the Share the Love campaign had and appreciate everyone who supported our partner, Wilde Subaru, by purchasing or leasing a car or getting your car serviced by them during this time. We appreciate support from local companies such as Wilde Subaru, and are in awe of our donors and volunteers who go out of their way to support local companies who support The FOOD Pantry. The Waukesha community has continuously shown their generosity and support of The FOOD Pantry and our partners. Thank you Wilde Subaru for sharing the love throughout the community year round.

This past month, we have highlighted how we recycle plastics and cardboard, reduce waste by working with local farmers, and work with local grocers to reduce waste through the food recovery program. Next, to further reduce organic waste in landfills, The FOOD Pantry has had a contract with COMPOST CRUSADER since June 2022 to compost organic materials like fruits and vegetables that are not handed out to clients. The organic material is sent to Blue Ribbon Organics in Caledonia, Wisconsin where a father/son team turn our food waste into compost in approximately 90 days. Since this start of this contract, approximately 64,200 pounds of organic materials have been diverted from landfills to Blue Ribbon Organics.

Calling all gardeners—did you know that we accept surplus garden produce? When gardens are producing lots of fruits and vegetables, it can be overwhelming. The FOOD Pantry can come to your rescue. We are happy to take surplus garden produce off your hands. Our clients are grateful for your willingness to share your produce abundance. All you need to do is drop off the produce Monday-Friday from 8:30 am-4:30 pm at door #5. During the Wisconsin growing season, we have a produce rack near the door for your donations and we share all of the donated produce with our clients. Some of our local gardeners even grow extra produce knowing that our clients are grateful for their donation. A shining example of this generosity is Eaton Corporation’s Garden of Eaton. Eaton employees grow a 62’ by 42’ garden annually and provide ALL of the produce to the pantry which was 1,200 pounds of produce last year. Eaton not only supports our operation through their garden donations, group volunteer activities, and donations to support our operation but they are also our Champion Sponsor for this year’s Breakfast Club Fundraiser. Thank you Eaton for your continued support! Although the weather may be disappointing today, we know that spring and summer are right around the corner. Please consider donating your surplus produce to The FOOD Pantry.  

The Environmental Protection Agency has identified several ways to reduce the environmental impact of surplus food including utilizing that food to feed animals. The FOOD Pantry Serving Waukesha County has relationships with local farmers so that food we can no longer safely provide to clients, can be provided to farmers as animal feed. Craig, one of our farmers who uses expired pantry food for his chickens and pigs, mentioned the following: “This is a win-win-win. The pantry is able to keep their food disposal costs down. I’m able to keep my animal feed costs down. We are able to keep food out of landfills. This partnership is an excellent way to support the environment.” The pantry has farmers pick up every afternoon, Monday through Friday. Thank you to all of our farmers who ensure we keep food out of our landfills.

Gross Automation visited us this past week and delivered 368 pounds of food they collected during their February food drive. Thank you to Gross Automation and your employees for supporting The FOOD Pantry and the people we serve. If you would like to do a food drive to benefit The FOOD Pantry, please go to our website and complete the form, https://lnkd.in/gqSpANq7 . We will bring a collection barrel to your location and pick it up when your drive is complete. If you want to host a food drive and deliver the food yourself, you can do so Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Please come to Door 5 with your donation.

On Tuesday, The FOOD Pantry had the pleasure of hosting Kathy Conrad and Diane Voit from 100 Women Who Care Waukesha County. They received a tour of The Pantry and gathered more information on the services we provide as well as our recycling efforts which strive to eliminate as much waste as possible. At the end of the tour, Kathy presented our Executive Director, Lyndsay Johnson, with a check from 100 Women Who Care Waukesha County. Their support will total over $15,000 to The FOOD Pantry which allows us to meet the needs of our clients and community by providing nutritious food. The Food Pantry staff, volunteers and Board of Directors want to extend our most sincere appreciation to every member of 100 Women Who Care Waukesha County who choose to support our mission this year. A special thank you to Ann Schoper, a volunteer at The Pantry and member of 100 Women Who Care Waukesha Co, for nominating us for this gift.