Category: Clients

Turkey Time: Pantry Donates to 122 Thanksgiving Day Meals

Joan Koehne
Thanksgiving Day turkeys were given to clients at Hope Center Pantry

What’s a Thanksgiving Day feast in Wisconsin without turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie? Hope Center Pantry, Green Bay, Wisconsin, didn’t want its clients to go without the traditional Thanksgiving Day meal because they lacked financial resources. According to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau, the average cost of a Thanksgiving Day meal for 10 people in 2021 was $53.31. Unfortunately, that’s beyond the means of many residents of Brown County, Wisconsin. So, in November of 2021, Hope Center Pantry used monetary donations collected from generous pantry patrons to purchase a variety of turkey options for clients’ Thanksgiving Day meals.

Helping Families Celebrate Thanksgiving Day

Hope Center Pantry purchased frozen whole turkeys (10-16 pounds), 3-pound frozen turkey breasts, and 2-pound turkey hams (similar to a deli meat). Then, Hope Center Pantry distributed the turkeys to clients in November. The pantry’s clients were taken aback by this additional meat item. They were so grateful they could celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal with their families. In total, Hope Center Pantry contributed Thanksgiving Day food for 122 meals.

Giving Away Turkeys & All the Fixings

In addition to turkey, Hope Center Pantry gave clients several other Thanksgiving Day foods which pantry volunteers had collected throughout 2021. Hope Center Pantry clients received turkey, pumpkin, cranberries, evaporated milk, stuffing mix, gravy, and sweet potatoes. Hope Center Pantry’s Thanksgiving Day meal distribution:

  • 67 whole turkeys
  • 28 turkey breasts
  • 27 turkey hams

Accepting Monetary Donations & Nonperishables

Spending time with family and friends around the table remains an important Thanksgiving Day tradition for many Wisconsinites. Hope Center Pantry is pleased to provide food for the feast. To help the pantry fill plates at the next Thanksgiving, please drop off monetary donations and nonperishable food from 1-3pm Monday – Thursday at the pantry, 505 Clinton St., Green Bay.

Family Meal: We Help Parents Who Struggle to Feed Their Kids

Joan Koehne 2 Comments
Ingredients for Pizza Mac and Cheese, a meal kit that Hope Center Pantry provides once a month
The Hope Center Pantry provides meal kits and recipes to families once a month, like this Pizza Mac and Cheese meal kit.

With such an abundance of food in the U.S. today, no child should go hungry. Yet 34 million people in the U.S. are food insecure, including 9 million children, according the Feeing America. Hope Center Pantry is doing something about these troubling statistics by preparing family meal kits.

Social Benefits of a Family Meal

Today’s families are busy, no doubt! Preparing and eating family meals together takes time and effort. But the benefits of regularly gathering around the table for a family meal are worth the effort. 7 Science-Based Benefits of Eating Together as a Family. Families who prepare and eat a meal together benefit from the social interaction of a shared meal. Research shows that having the family involved in meal preparation increases fruit and vegetable intake. In addition, family meals provide a sense of togetherness and security that helps nurture children into well-rounded, healthy adults. Family dinners have a positive impact on children’s personal identity, self-esteem, values, and motivation.

Meal Kits for Green Bay Families

Hope Center Pantry is a Christian-based nonprofit ministry that strongly encourages family time and family meals. The pantry partners with Annie Jackson Elementary in Green Bay to provide the ingredients for a full, nutritious meal families in need. Starting in September 2021, and throughout the 2022-23 school year, the pantry created “meal kits” for a family of four. These meal kits are orchestrated through their school counselor who has a team of 50 students that help pack and distribute the meals once a month. Additionally, the school has a mini pantry available called Hunger Heroes.

Food & Recipes for Hungry Kids

The families pre-register for the meal, and they receive meal recipes in both English and Spanish. The pantry includes an English/Spanish flyer with each meal kit, so families know about the pantry’s location and services. One month, the pantry provided 33 meals – enough food to feed 132 parents and children at a family meal. Pizza Mac and Cheese is one example of a meal kit, with all ingredients provided.

Collaborating with Green Bay School Counselors

To spread the word Hope Center Pantry, we contacted school counselors in the Green Bay School District, sharing information about our pantry and other food pantries in Brown County. We encouraged the counselors to send information home with students whose families have a need for our services.
One of the school counselors from Eisenhower Elementary in Green Bay stops by Hope Center Pantry periodically to pick up food to give families with children in the school. The children’s parents don’t have cars to travel to the pantry, so the counselor cheerfully delivers their food right to their door!

Panty Serves Families with Children

Together, we are serving families and children in need in the Green Bay community. Children who have enough to eat perform better at school and have a better chance of growing into healthy teens and adults. We’re grateful to everyone who volunteers, donates, and advocates for Hope Center Pantry, to feed kids and families who are hungry. Contact us to learn more about the ways you can contribute to our mission.

 

Paper Products Donation: Could it Be Heaven Sent?

Joan Koehne
pallet of Paper Products Donation from Bedford Paper

Coincidence or divine intervention? I’ll let you be the judge. In July 2021, Sister Marla Clercx, pastoral leader at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, announced that the Hope Center Pantry needed paper products. Seated in the church that day was an employee of Bedford Paper in De Pere. He knew the company would want to support such a wonderful cause. So, he arranged to have several pallets of paper towels and toilet paper donated to Hope Center Pantry in 2021 and again in 2022.

Bedford Paper Donates Paper Products

The panty appreciates this kind and generous gesture by Bedford Paper. Bedford Paper is a manufacturer of single-use folded towels, roll towels, and bath tissue. With these donations, the pantry has been able to offer paper towels to all clients. Additionally, the pantry includes toilet paper in each box/bag. The clients are especially grateful for these paper products as these items cannot be purchased with their Food Shares/Food Stamps allotted money. Bedford Paper sales and marketing manager said the company is super-excited to hear that Hope Center Pantry clients are getting good use out of these donated paper products.

7 Churches Support Hope Center Pantry

So, is this a coincidence or divine intervention? St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is one of the west-side Green Bay churches that supports the work of Hope Center Pantry. Other churches contributing financial support for the pantry’s day-to-day operations are the Quad Parishes of Annunciation, St. Joseph, St. Jude and St. Patrick, along with Nativity of Our Lord Church and St. Agnes Church. Other churches, organizations, and individuals also support the pantry. They provide monetary and material donations and volunteerism. The pantry is operated solely by volunteers.

Fulfill a Wish on the Pantry’s Wish List

Because the need is so great, Hope Center Pantry is always looking for volunteers, food donations and non-food donations. To view our Wish List and other ways to contribute the panty’s mission, visit the How You Can Help page.