Month: March 2024

Grandpa & Grandson Deliver Food Donations to Pantry

Joan Koehne
Grandpa & Grandson, 4, Deliver Food Donations to Hope Center Pantry

Deliveries come in all sizes! The Hope Center Pantry is open from 1-3pm Monday through Thursday, and people will oftentimes drop off donations during these hours. When this happens, our volunteers ask if they need help carrying in the donations.

4-year-old ‘Assistant’ Delivers Food Donations

In March, a man came in the delivery door to grab a cart to collect his donations from his vehicle. He said that he did not need help because he brought his “assistant” along who could do the heavy lifting. It took a while, but eventually, the guy wheeled in an overloaded cart. How could you not smile when you saw his proud assistant?

7 Green Bay Catholic Churches Support Pantry

The job of this adorable 4-year-old boy was to climb up into his grandfather’s truck bed and hand him the food donations so his grandfather could place them on the delivery cart. These items were donated by St. Jude Catholic Church, Green Bay. St. Jude is one of seven West Side Green Bay Catholic churches that supports Hope Center Pantry. St. Jude held a “40 cans for Lent” challenge and donated the canned food to Hope Center Pantry.

Heartwarming Moment Unfolds

Grandpa was beaming with pride, and the little boy showed off his muscles to all of the volunteers at Hope Center Pantry. There truly is so much goodness in the world!

Hope Center Pantry Volunteer Hannah Eichhorn and her boyfriend

Hannah Eichhorn: Serving the Community as Pantry Volunteer

Joan Koehne

Hello! My name is Hannah, and I’ve been volunteering at Hope Center Pantry for about a year and a half now. I was born and raised in Upper Michigan but have lived in Green Bay for the past six years. I love being down here, but still frequently get to the UP to catch up with my family. I am the seventh of nine children, and have 20+ nieces and nephews, so there is always something fun going on!

I work as an RN at Bellin Health Endocrinology Clinic. When I’m not at work, I’m somewhere between the UP and Two Rivers, Wisconsin, where my boyfriend, Chad, lives, usually finding some trails to hike or bike on in my free time. Chad has a basset hound, Bubba, who loves to lead the way for us on the trails. I will never get sick of living in such a beautiful area, especially so close to Lake Michigan, with so many hidden gems to explore.

I am very thankful for my time so far at the Hope Center Pantry. Every person I’ve met there has truly been a pleasure to get to know, and serve alongside. I look forward to continuing to help serve our community through this very special place.

Time to Party! Green Bay Catholic Youth Fill Birthday Bags

Joan Koehne
birthday bags filled by Catholic youth for Hope Center Pantry

In recent years, Hope Center Pantry has benefited from the generosity of youth. We provide opportunities for teens to volunteer, manage the pantry’s social media, and earn high school community service hours. Here is yet another superb example of our local youth doing great things. Hope Center Pantry received 20 birthday bags for boys ages 6-10. Hope Center Pantry was in dire need of birthday bags for this age range, so the timing was perfect!

Birthday Cake, Candles, Toys

Each birthday bag was thoughtfully filled with a box of cake mix, a can of frosting, a pack of birthday candles, a box of theatre-sized candy, two matchbox cars, and another toy. Now can’t you just picture the joy these bags will give each boy who receives one? This gesture surely made God smile!

Catholic Churches Partner with Pantry

Students in the Confirmation class at Nativity of Our Lord Church, Green Bay, Wisconsin, filled the bags. Nativity Catholic Church is one of six West Side Green Bay Catholic parishes that supports Hope Center Pantry. The other Catholic churches are Annunciation, St. Agnes, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Joseph, St. Jude, and St. Patrick. These faith communities work together to help break the cycle of poverty in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Thank you for giving back to the community, helping others, and brightening kids’ birthdays.

Domino Effect: Students Donate 910 Boxes of Cereal

Joan Koehne
Students Donate Cereal boxes and arrange them like dominoes in the gym

How do you get elementary school children pumped up during the cold winter months? The school counselor at Jackson Elementary School in Green Bay came up with a fantastic idea. How about hosting a cereal dominoes challenge? For several weeks, the children were encouraged to bring in boxes of cereal. The classroom that collected the most boxes of cereal would be rewarded with a pizza party!

Collecting Cereal Boxes for Local Pantries

A large portion of the cereal collected would be donated to their school pantry, Hunger Heroes Jaguar Den. Anything extra would be allocated to a few local food pantries. Just this little seed of an idea created so much buzz among the students and faculty. The good that came out of it exceeded everyone’s expectations: 910 boxes of cereal were collected!

Students Cheer as the Dominos Fall

The competition was fierce, and the classroom that won the pizza party tipped the count by only six boxes on the final day. Hope Center Pantry visited Jackson Elementary School on March 6, 2024, to witness the event live. Boxes of cereal were lined up in elaborate designs, domino-style, starting in the gym. The cereal boxes snaked down hallways throughout the school. It was breathtaking to watch the dominos fall. But mostly, we enjoyed watching the expressions on the faces of the kids. They were beyond excited as they stood or sat respectfully along the hallways and cheered on the falling cereal boxes.

Contact Us to Organize a Food Drive

The Hope Center Pantry was one of the fortunate pantries that received 200 boxes of cereal from the challenge. Some of the students willingly helped haul our cereal to our vehicle. What a fun way to run a food drive. We commend Jackson Elementary School for its innovative domino-style food drive and thank all of the donors, also. The families we serve now have breakfast on the table, thanks to you. To organize a food drive at your school, business or community event, contact us for information.

Family Radio Sponsors Help for the Homeless

Joan Koehne
Family Radio sponsors Help for the Homeless personal hygiene drive

Every year, Family Radio sponsors a “Help for the Homeless” hygiene drive. This year, Hope Center Pantry participated in the drive for the first time. Our Pantry gives hygiene products to our clients, and now we have more toothpaste, toothbrushes, and other personal hygiene items available.

Donations Go to 121 Crisis Programs

Many businesses and churches participated in Help for the Homeless. Family Radio broadcasts to 20 Wisconsin communities in the radio station’s listening areas. The drive began Feb. 11 and ended March 3. In total, Family Radio collected over $604,000 worth of hygiene products and cleaning supplies. These donations went to 121 crisis programs in 20 communities across Wisconsin.

Pantry Benefits from Help for the Homeless

The Hope Center Pantry was one of 24 local crisis programs in Brown County to receive the donations from Help for the Homeless. On March 7, each program sent three volunteers to Green Bay Community Church. The volunteers sorted, counted and distributed 37,987 donated items that were valued at $101,823.22.

Contact Us to Organize a Personal Hygiene Drive

We were awestruck by the generous outpouring of support from Brown County residents. Hope Center Pantry clients are so fortunate to have such great quality hygiene items available to them. Thanks, Family Radio! Contact us to learn how to organize a personal hygiene drive at your business or nonprofit.