MILWAUKEE — Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin serves 35 counties in the eastern half of the state, supplying pantries with food for those in need.
The organization partners with just over 400 pantries, meal sites and homeless shelters.
“We are seeing an increase in need, as we do every year when it gets cold,” said Scott Marshall, Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin’s Vice President of Development and Communications. “It gets harder for people to make choices between keeping the heat on, buying their kids a new jacket, or putting food on the table.”
To help, people can donate food, money, or their time. They can do so by clicking here.
Marshall said if food donations are what some folks would prefer to do, he said choose healthy items and mainly canned goods.
“Donate the kind of food you would purchase for your family,” he said. “Since it’s the holidays, consider buying an extra box of stuffing because families in need deserve to have the same food at the holidays as the rest of us,”
More than half of the food donated to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin comes from vendors and retailers. It needs to be sorted by volunteers before it can go out to the pantries and meal sites. Marshall said the organization has mostly bounced back from losing half of its volunteers during the pandemic. He said more volunteers are needed.
“We have two shifts every day from nine to noon and one until four and we can have up to 25 people for every shift,” he said.
He said anyone who needs help can dial 211, which can direct them to the nearest meal site, or food bank. Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin also has a map on its website of meal sites and pantries, based on location searched. Click “find help.”