Month: September 2023

Food Insecurity: Pantry Serves 1,425 in August

Joan Koehne
Hope Center Pantry volunteers transport food to Green Bay to address food insecurity

Hope Center Pantry continues to see many new clients facing food insecurity in Brown County, Wisconsin. From January to August of 2023, the pantry registered over 500 new clients. For the month of August, Hope Center Pantry served 374 clients, representing a total of 1,425 family members. That’s a very large number considering clients are permitted to visit Hope Center Pantry just once a month to pick up food for their households.

1 in 9 Veterans Experience Food Insecurity

The only exception is for military veterans and active military personnel, who can pick up food at the pantry once a week. They fought for our country, and therefore, Hope Center Pantry supports them through tough times. Hope Center Pantry’s Veterans hours are from 3-5pm on the second and third Tuesdays of the month. According to Feeding America, 1 in 9 working-age veterans live in a food insecure household, and 24 percent of active-duty service members were food insecure in 2020. Hope Center Pantry is doing something about it, by extending pantry hours and staffing the pantry with military veterans’ needs in mind.

Feeding the Hungry in Brown County

Hope Center Pantry volunteers are committed to helping the hungry of Green Bay, Wisconsin. The pantry is working to end food insecurity, helping the hungry be hopeful and well-fed in Brown County. To be a part of Hope Center Pantry, visit How You Can Help for information about donating and volunteering.

Divine Detour: Feeding 3 Experiencing Homelessness

Joan Koehne
3 men experiencing homelessness eat food given to them by Hope Center Pantry directors

Have any of you ever had a lazy Sunday where the Holy Spirit “nudged” you in a direction different than you wanted to go? Well, that happened on a mid-September Sunday to the directors of the Hope Center Food Pantry. Here’s how it unfolded, as told by Directors Chris and Janice.

Refreshing Water for the Thirsty

This particular Sunday, it was HOT! Plus, it was sticky HUMID! We got done with church, and all we wanted to do was head home to our comfortable air conditioning. But we had done some grocery shopping the previous day and decided to swing by Hope Center Pantry to unload it. No sooner had we backed up to the delivery door than a gentleman appeared around the corner and asked us if we could spare a bottle of water for him. We told him to give us a minute, and we’d bring it around to the client delivery door. We keep water in the refrigerator at the pantry for our volunteers, and we were so happy that we had something cool and refreshing to offer him. When we brought it out, we realized that he was with two other guys who asked for water. They were obviously homeless.

Pre-Packed Bag of Food for the Hungry

After we delivered water to all of three of them, they asked us if we had any food that we could share with them. They were SO HUNGRY! It seemed wrong to tell them to return the next day at 1pm when the pantry was officially open. We just came from church, and it didn’t seem very Christian-like to turn them away! So, we registered them as new pantry clients and gave them each a pre-packed bag that we have ready for our non-sheltered clients. They were beyond ecstatic as they rifled through their bags and saw so many great food options. They joked around that all they needed was a picnic table. We told them they were welcome to stay and eat at the pantry. They did just that. They situated themselves under a tree in the berm and enjoyed their feast!

Assisting Those Experiencing Homelessness

We may have taken a detour to the pantry at the last minute, but there was no doubt the Holy Spirit made sure we were just where we were needed most! Hope Center Pantry serves people who have varied needs, including those experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. To assist Hope Center Pantry in its mission to serve, guide, empower and support those in need, please consider donating money, nonperishable food, garden produce, or personal hygiene supplies. Check out our Wish List for ideas.

Teen’s Community Service Brightens Hope Center Pantry

Joan Koehne
Teen made cards and a blanket for community service at Hope Center Pantry

An honors student at Pulaski High School found unique ways to fill her community service hours. Ava is a typical busy teen who needed volunteer hours to fulfill her high school graduation requirements and additional hours to maintain her status as an honors student.

Creative Approach to Community Service Hours

She contacted Hope Center Pantry to ask about volunteer opportunities. Ava is very creative and jumped at the opportunity to assemble thank you cards for the Pantry. What a great job she did! She also used some fabric that she on hand to make a large tie blanket that was given as a birthday gift to a teenage daughter of one of the pantry clients. The Pantry is so fortunate to benefit from the talents of this gifted Pulaski teenager. Thank you, Ava!

Pantry Welcomes High School Volunteers

High school students who need community service hours for their school are encouraged to volunteer at Hope Center Pantry. The Pantry has many different ways that teens can help out, both during Pantry hours (1-3pm Monday through Thursday) and after hours. Contact Hope Center Pantry for more information. We’re happy to give you volunteerism ideas to fulfill your school’s community service requirements.

Sweet Success: 2,042 Items Collected at ‘Thrivent Cans Hunger’

Joan Koehne
2,042 food items collected at Thrivent Cans Hunger food drive

Somehow the stars aligned, and Thrivent asked us about hosting a “Thrivent Cans Hunger” event at the pantry on August 29, 2023. We set a goal to collect 1,000 cans of food that the pantry needed the most. For every can donated, Thrivent committed to donate $3.00 to the pantry (up to $3,000).

Community Engages in Food Drive

We promoted the event in many ways. Thrivent dropped off bags at the Catholic churches in our area that are primary supporters of the pantry, our veteran contacts promoted the event in their monthly newsletter, we posted on our pantry Facebook page, emailed information to our volunteers, and lastly, Thrivent sent an event flyer to all Thrivent clients in our area.

Thrivent Clients Rally for Hope Center Pantry

Thrivent even hired an ice cream truck for the event, so everyone who dropped off food could have FREE ice cream! We had a beautiful weather day for the event, and it was an overwhelming success. In only three hours, we surpassed our goal by collecting 2,042 items! Many of the people who dropped off donations asked to take a tour of the pantry, and they were impressed by our set-up. LoveLife volunteers also provided tours of their facility.

Thrivent-Pantry Partnership Feeds the Hungry

We felt so honored to partner with Thrivent on such a successful event! If your business or nonprofit would like to host a food drive or donate to Hope Center Pantry, contact us. We are happy to arrange a community or corporate event. We appreciate community support. We couldn’t feed hundreds of people every month without the community’s generosity. For more information about Hope Center Food Pantry’s current food donation needs, view the pantry Wish List on the How You Can Help page.