Category: Food Assistance

At Hope Center Pantry, we rely on support from the community to feed the hungry in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Many local businesses and nonprofit organizations help us live out the pantry’s mission: “To serve and guide those who are in need. It is our responsibility to empower and support others.” The Elks Lodge of Green Bay is a loyal supporter of Hope Center Pantry. The organization’s website says it like this: “The Elks serve the people and communities through benevolent programs, demonstrating that Elks Care and Elks Share.”

Green Bay Elks Lodge Donates $1,200

Periodically, the Green Bay Lodge surprises us with donations of food, cleaning items and hygiene items that our clients great appreciate. In July, two members of Green Bay Elks Lodge #259
stopped by the Hope Center Pantry to present a check for $1,200! The Lodge has been a wonderful supporter of our pantry, and we appreciate the donation.

Exclusive Pantry Hours for Military Veterans

The Elks also assist us as we meet the needs of military veterans. The pantry welcomes veterans to the panty during our regular operational hours, from 1-3pm Monday through Thursday. Additionally, the pantry is open exclusively for veterans from 3-4pm on the second and third Tuesdays of each month.

Ask Us How Your Nonprofit Can Contribute

Hope Center Pantry values its partnerships with Green Bay businesses and nonprofit organizations. Unfortunately, food insecurity is a problem for many people in the community. In August 2024, Hope Center Pantry served 493 families – 874 adults and 749 children. Food banks like ours can’t do this alone. Contact us to learn how your business or nonprofit can sponsor a food drive, personal hygiene drive, or find other ways to donate to the pantry.

Fortifi Bank pays out more than interest and dividends. Thanks to Fortifi Bank for helping address food insecurity in Brown County, Wisconsin, by organizing its second annual food drive. (Read about Fortifi’s inaugural food drive.) The bank is truly a hunger hero! Fortifi’s mission, “Growin’ Wisconsin,” is about making a tangible impact in the communities where Fortifi Bank operates a branch office.

Food Drive Benefits 10 Wisconsin Pantries

Over 2,800 food items were collected and distributed to 10 food pantries across Northeast Wisconsin, substantially improving upon last year’s results of 1,000 food items. This beautifully illustrates the bank’s commitment to its mission. The incredible response from the community has not only provided substantial support to their neighbors by helping to end hunger but also strengthened the bonds within their communities.

Community Donates Food for Hungry

The food drive took place between March and April, with 8 drop-off points located throughout Northeast Wisconsin. Community members were encouraged to fill grocery bags with ingredients for a meal and drop them off at one of the designated locations. The response from the community was overwhelming, with hundreds of individuals and families contributing to the cause.

Hope Center Pantry Receives 400 Food Items

The bank partnered with local food pantries to distribute the donations to those who need it most. The Hope Center Pantry was fortunate to be a recipient of over 400 food items on April 17. Our clients really appreciate the quality of the items that we received from Fortifi’s food drive!

Are you interested in sponsoring a food drive at your workplace or community event? It’s actually very easy to do, and the need is so great! Contact us for details.

Food donations come in all shapes and sizes. Plus, food donations come from a variety of businesses and nonprofits. For example, Hope Center Pantry received oodles of noodles in April, thanks to the generosity of two Green Bay donors. The mission committee at HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center collected noodles during Lent. (Lent is a 40-day period in which Christians renew their focus on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.)

Donors Give Pasta Sauce and Noodles to Pantry

On April 9, the Manager of Mission Integration and Spiritual Care delivered a carload full of noodles and pasta sauce to the Pantry. This is exactly what the pantry was in dire need of! Imagine our excitement when the manager showed up with two large carts full of food. This donation is a wonderful gift to our Pantry clients.

Organize a Food Drive at Your Workplace

To organize a food drive at your workplace or community event, contact us. We welcome the opportunity to partner with your organization and its donors to feed the hungry of Green Bay WI.

The generosity of people in Green Bay continues to inspire us! Case in point, Give BIG Green Bay raised $3 million for local nonprofits in just one day in February 2024. Give BIG Green Bay is a 24-hour giving day that raises money for nonprofits in Brown County. The Green Bay Community Foundation partners with the Green Bay Packers for the annual event held in February. Now in its 7th year, Give Big Green Bay has donated $13 million to 138 nonprofits.

Pantry Gift Cards from Feeding America

Hope Center Pantry is one of the many nonprofits that benefit from the fundraiser. The 2024 campaign raised $50,111 for Feeding America of Eastern Wisconsin. In turn, Feeding America of Eastern Wisconsin presented $1,000 in grocery gift cards to the pantry. Alicia Ulrich, the Network Partnership and Eat Well for Life Coordinator at Feeding America of Eastern Wisconsin, presented the gift cards to Chris Clemens, Hope Center Pantry director. The pantry will use the gift cards to purchase food at Mason Brothers’ Red Owl, a Green Bay grocery store near the pantry. With the gift cards, we have the freedom to purchase items that our Pantry needs the most.

Thanks for Supporting Hungry Families

Thanks to everyone who donated to Give BIG Green Bay. Your generosity is making a thousand-dollar impact around the dinner tables of families in Green Bay. To learn how you can continue to make an impact, check out our Wish List.

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!

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.

Look what the Easter Bunny left at Hope Center Pantry! Hope Center Pantry received an assortment of Easter hams from Feeding America of Northeast Wisconsin. The smaller hams are 4 pounds. These will be offered to Hope Center Pantry clients that have 2-4 people in their household. The larger hams are 8 pounds. These will be offered to Hope Center Pantry clients that have 5 or more people in their household.

Not only will these hams be the centerpiece of Easter dinner, but the ‘planned overs’ (‘left overs’ has such a negative connotation) can be used for delicious casseroles and scrumptious soups. Now that is what we call a win/win … all thanks to Feeding America!