RACINE, Wis. — Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin is expanding to meet the needs of more people with a mobile food pantry.
Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin has been feeding veterans in need and their families for a long time at its headquarters in Racine, Wis. It is known for its tiny home village, but the organization first got its start as a food pantry with the veteran’s marketplace.
“Last year we saw the number of our marketplace go up almost 50%,” Zach Zdroik, the executive director of Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin, said.
Zdroik said as the need for food among veterans kept growing, the organization realized it wasn’t enough to just be in one place, because it wasn’t accessible to as many veterans who were in need.
“We saw the need across southeast Wisconsin and came up with the mobile marketplace," he explained.
The Mobile Veterans Market is a food pantry on wheels. This will allow the organization to have a further reach.
“The mobile marketplace takes us statewide and we are finally able to live up to our name,” Zdroik said. “To be able to get out to veterans across the state and highlight the needs for food and mental health services, so on and so forth,”
Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin took an old school bus and totally revamped it to create the mobile market.
Annie Person works at Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin and one of her new jobs is to keep the mobile market stocked and ready to go. She said being able to have a larger reach for veterans in need is important.
“It’s very impactful for everyone to come out and join our little supermarket here,” Person said.
The hope is to make the pantry about more than just food and supplies in the long run. The goal is to get veterans and their families whatever they may need. They can assist with things like housing, clothing or mental health resources.
“If we can highlight the needs in certain communities, that’s the main focus,” Zdroik said. “So that way the community understands what the needs are and we can focus on that.”
This mobile pantry is starting service in southeast Wisconsin, but hopes to expand across the state. It will take off for the first time in September.