Hope Center Pantry gave Green Bay-area residents something to smile about, thanks two Brown County, Wisconsin, dental offices. When the Hope Center Pantry ran incredibly low on toothbrushes, a pantry volunteer contacted Green Bay dentists. As a result, Brodhagen Dental Care of Ashwaubenon and Kids Dental Experts of Green Bay and De Pere donated toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental floss.
Dental Offices Donate to Pantry
Hope Center Pantry is so grateful for these donations of nonfood items from these two local dentists. The Hope Center Pantry clients received these oral hygiene items as bonus items, in addition to the traditional food items they received.
Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Dental Floss
Dental hygiene is so important because the health of the teeth and gums impacts an individual’s overall health, medical costs, and quality of life. Proper oral hygiene includes daily brushing and flossing to maintain the health of the teeth and gums. Good oral health enables a person to speak, smile, smell, eat and communicate more easily. Poor oral health can lead to serious consequences. Individuals without access to toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental floss can experience mouth pain and discomfort. Ultimately, they may end up suffering from costly health conditions.
Thanks, Brodhagen & Kids Dental Experts
Hope Center Pantry loves to see clients smiling! Donations from Brodhagen Dental Care of Ashwaubenon and Kids Dental Experts of Green Bay and De Pere help to make smiles possible.
Donate Food & Non-food Items to Pantry
How can your business or nonprofit organization put smiles on the faces of those in need in Green Bay and Brown County, Wisconsin? The Pantry accepts food and non-food donations alike. Here is a Wish List of Hope Center Pantry’s current needs.
Hope Center Pantry volunteers are wizards at implementing solutions to food distribution issues. For example, the pantry considered different ways to make it easier for individuals to carry bags when they walk or bike to Hope Center Pantry. Have you ever tried to balance a paper grocery bag filled with food on a bike? It’s a challenge! Plus, grocery bags become quite heavy to carry even a short distance. Paper grocery bags are cumbersome to transport and if their handles tear, they’re even more cumbersome.
Donation from Bellin Health
Acknowledging the challenges of paper bags for food transportation, Hope Center Pantry contacted the folks that organize the Bellin Run and other races. The Bellin Run is a 10K race held the second Saturday in June that attracts more than 10,000 walkers, runners, and wheelchair participants. Bellin Health and the Green Bay Packers formed a partnership in 2012 to create Titletown Wellness. In addition to organizing the Bellin Run, Titletown Wellness hosts other running events in the spring and fall. So, when we contacted Bellin about donating bags for groceries, they provided over 300 cinch bags that were left over from the Bellin Women’s Half Marathon. Bellin Health consistently comes through to support community needs, and Hope Center Pantry is thankful for the health system’s generosity.
Durable, Reusable Singles Bags for Food
The Bellin Health cinch bags work great for packing “singles bags.” A singles bag is just what it sounds like. It is packed with food amounts for our clients that only have one person in their household. The bags are durable and can easy to carry like a backpack, which is especially beneficial for clients who walk or ride their bike to collect their food from Hope Center Pantry. It is an understatement to say that these sturdy bags are an immense improvement over paper bags. As an added bonus, clients can reuse these bags for other purposes.
The Pantry is always in need of donations. View our Wish List for ideas today.
In a technology-driven world, you wouldn’t think that a printed brochure would be of much use. Yet Hope Center Pantry finds great value in its professional flier and the relationships the pantry built when developing the flier.
2 Donations from Pioneer Metal Finishing
Hope Center Pantry partnered with Pioneer Metal Finishing to produce the professional flier. Pioneer Metal Finishing is a Green Bay, Wisconsin-based custom metal finishing company with 11 facilities in the U.S. and Mexico. A Pioneer Metal Finishing employee created the flier on behalf of Hope Center Pantry. The Pioneer Metal Finishing team was so impressed with Hope Center Pantry’s professionalism and how quickly the Pantry published the brochure on its website. In fact, Pioneer Metal Finishing donated its company’s December 2021 collection of nonperishable food to Hope Center Pantry. The pantry is so grateful for both charitable gestures.
Pantry Brochure Printed in English & Spanish
Because Northeast Wisconsin is home to many Hispanic families, Hope Center Pantry wanted to publish the brochure in both English and Spanish. Hope Center Pantry worked with the Green Bay Area Public School District staff to translate the English text to Spanish. This is just another example of a mutually beneficial relationship sustained by Hope Center Pantry. Read how Hope Center Pantry provides family meal kits to help parents who struggle to feed their kids.
Organizations that serve the under-privileged in Brown County
Green Bay West Side Catholic Churches in the Diocese of Green Bay: Hope Center Pantry collaborates with Annunciation, St. Agnes, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Joseph, St. Jude, Nativity of Our Lord, and St. Patrick.
Sponsor a Corporate Food Drive
The brochure concisely communicates information about Hope Center Pantry services, hours of operation, and eligibility requirements. Additionally, the flier sends the message that the pantry is professional, forward-looking nonprofit organization. Hope Center Pantry is grateful to Pioneer Metal Finishing for its generosity and encourages other Green Bay corporations to follow suit. Please consider sponsoring a corporate food drive or contributing to the pantry in some other way. Here is our Wish List of current needs.
Volunteering at Hope Center Pantry is so rewarding, but a couple of experiences really make volunteering worthwhile. We wish everyone could experience the joy that a Christmas-time gift bag brought to our female clients. In December 2021 we gave 45 gift bags to our female clients. These were nicely boxed gift sets of pump body lotion and soap that we received for free from Feeding America. The clients were so appreciative that it really made us feel good about the work we do at the pantry.
Christmas & Birthday Gift Bags
Christmas only comes once a year, and the same goes for birthdays. You should see a child’s face light up when they see a birthday bag included with their family’s food. It’s priceless! Two Green Bay soccer teams made it possible. The high school girls’ soccer teams kicked it up a notch with their Hope Center Pantry donation! Girls from the Notre Dame Academy and Southwest High School girls’ soccer teams filled 101 birthday bags and donated them to Hope Center Pantry.
Birthday gift bags donated to Hope Center Pantry from high school soccer teams.
101 Cake Mixes, Frosting, Candles & Gifts
Each bag contained a cake mix, frosting, candles and an age-appropriate gift. Panty volunteers distribute the birthday gift bags to families with children age 10 and under for their birthday month. The clients were thrilled to have these items to make their child’s birthday feel more special.
Making Birthdays Extra Special
As a nice addition to the birthday bags, Hope Center Pantry gives each child a Beanie Baby. A generous pantry supporter donated a bunch of Beanie Babies to the pantry. When volunteers grab a gift bag for a child, they also grab one of these Beanie Babies to add to the bag. It makes their birthday extra special!
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.
Janice Clemens said she believes that “God was at work” in her invitation to become co-director of St. Patrick’s Food Pantry, along with her husband, Chris.
“I volunteered here first,” said Janice. “When Donna (Kessler, former longtime pantry director who followed Franciscan Sr. Louise Hunt) thought about retiring, she said that she remembered that she heard me say that I wanted to focus on one volunteer item. I’m almost 100% sure that I said that I wanted to do a variety of things. I think she saw Chris and I as a couple (for the position). Donna did a great job and left us in a pretty good situation.”
Spending Their Retirement Years Volunteering
Janice started as a volunteer at the pantry in September 2019, following retirement. Chris joined her a year later, after he retired. “We hadn’t even been managers. We have managers on each shift each day. We went right from volunteers to directors,” said Chris with a laugh.
20-Year Run at St. Patrick’s Church, Green Bay
Janice and Chris, members of Nativity of Our Lord Parish, Ashwaubenon, are now the Tuesday managers, in addition to serving as directors. The pantry, housed in the Hope Center at 505 Clinton St. in Green Bay, is open for clients from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday. This year marks 25 years of providing food for those in need. The first 20 years, the pantry operated in the basement of St. Patrick Church. The Hope Center, a collaboration of the west side Green Bay parishes, opened in 2016. The building is also the west side home for Love Life, which provides basic infant needs to low-income families.
Open to Brown County WI Residents
St. Patrick’s Food Pantry, which is open to anyone living in Brown County, currently only offers curbside pickup in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Premade boxes are packed, based on the family size. Clients may request extra items. Four volunteers work each shift, except for Tuesdays when a fifth volunteer does data entry.
Pantry Directors Automated Operations
Both Janice and Chris have IT (information technology) backgrounds, so they’ve automated most data, including client information, volunteer schedules and packing lists.
“If they’ve been here before, we’ve got them in the database already,” said Janice. “We just pull their sheet out. We know about their household, how many live there. We take their order for the day. If they are new, we fill out a sheet for them.”
Chris has implemented a color coordinated system for food sorting. All boxes are dated. Different color labels allow volunteers to recognize which items need to be rotated to the shelves for distribution first.
Catholic Parishes Support Pantry
The pantry receives monetary donations made through the Quad Parishes on the west side of Green Bay. Parishes also provide support through food collections — designated boxes for donations or through “reverse collections” where parish members receive a slip of paper with a specific food item and donate that item the following weekend.
“St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish (Green Bay) does (a reverse collection) once a month,” said Janice. “It’s great because then we get exactly what we need.” A list of the most needed items is shared with the parishes and provided on the website.
Donations of Hygiene, Paper & Cleaning Products
“The surprising thing is we are a food pantry, but there is a need for hygiene and cleaning products,” said Janice. “Most people on FoodShare can’t use those for body wash or shampoo.” Toilet paper is provided to clients through donations from Bedford Paper of De Pere.
Brown County Food and Hunger Network
St. Patrick’s is part of the Brown County Food and Hunger Network. The number of client visits at all food pantries in Wisconsin has decreased during the pandemic, said Janice. Stimulus funds may be the reason for the drop in client visits, she added. The highest number in recent months at St. Patrick’s was August with 146 clients served.
Feeding Children in Green Bay Schools
In response to fewer numbers, St. Patrick’s Food Pantry extends its outreach into the community. They have connected with the Green Bay Area Public School District. School counselors put pantry flyers in backpacks of children whose families may need food assistance. They also partner with Jackson Elementary School in Green Bay.
“Once a month we are piloting a program with Jackson,” said Janice. “The school counselor started a mini-pantry. At the direction of the (Hope Center) board, this is another way we can use the monetary donations to help the community, especially with our client counts being down.
“We are trying to build family meal time,” she said. “We come up with a theme and do food kits. We will have a recipe and they will put it together. We provide it in English and Spanish. This month, we are going to do something with ham. We did 27 kits in our highest month. Nineteen was our lowest. In that kit, there is also a flyer for our pantry.”
Meals for the Homeless Shelter
A partnership with St. John the Evangelist Homeless Shelter is also in the works. Janice has volunteered at the shelter and recognized the need for to-go meals for shelter guests who have jobs.
For the clients who visit the pantry during the week, some recent changes have been made for their convenience. Milk no longer fills the cooler shelves. Milk vouchers are given to clients which they can use at Save A Lot.
“We have people walking up pulling a suitcase behind and people on bikes,” said Janice. “We reached out to all the 5k and 10k races in Brown County. They gave us some really nice shoulder bags that they can put on their back on their bike.”
A Need for More Volunteers
“What we really need is more new volunteers,” said Chris, “If someone is interested, they can go to the website or stop in.” The pantry has a pool of about 70 volunteers, including eight managers, but will lose some snowbirds during the winter months. In addition to those who serve at the pantry site, two men pick up orders from Feeding America, the pantry’s source for meat. Another man picks up all the boxes for recycling. Two Bay Port students recently became the first high school community service volunteers at St. Patrick’s. The girls make thank-you cards for handwritten messages to donors and help put together spice packets for the meal kits.
Janice said that many of the longtime pantry volunteers continue to be a good resource. “They tell us if we are doing something wrong, and we need that,” she said with a smile.
The Rewards of Being a Pantry Volunteer
The rewards of helping people make the work worth it, said Chris.
“Just seeing the smiles on people’s faces out there, lights you up,” he said. “Everybody is just so grateful to get the food. We put a cart with Thanksgiving items out. They take what they need. They don’t grab everything. Everybody is respectful.”
“We want to be an elite pantry, good service with a smile,” added Janice. “If it’s been donated to us, we’re going to get it to the clients who need it. Any of us could be in that situation. God will provide. He has so far.”
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.
Clients receive milk vouchers for Save-A-Lot to select the milk of their choice – when they actually need it.
Where in the world would people wear a wedge of cheese on their heads to cheer for their favorite National Football League team? Nowhere but Green Bay, Wisconsin! As the official home of the Cheeseheads, Wisconsin is known for the Green Bay Packers, triangle-shaped Cheeseheads headwear, and dairy production. Dairy is a major industry in Wisconsin, so the state is nicknamed “America’s Dairyland.”
Green Bay Pantry Near Lambeau Field
Hope Center Pantry is proud of its Wisconsin roots. Hope Center Pantry is located on the West Side of Green Bay at 505 Clinton St., a mere 2.5 miles from legendary Lambeau Field, 1265 Lombardi Ave., Green Bay. Our clients benefit from living in the Dairy State because of the dairy donations we distribute.
Dairy Donations of Milk, Cheese, Butter
Hope Center Pantry, Green Bay, is excited to announce a few dairy donation updates for the pantry. The pantry now
Offers a block of cheese to large and small families
Replaced margarine with butter for distribution
Switched from providing gallons of milk to vouchers for milk
Positive Move, Switching to Milk Vouchers
Previously, the pantry distributed gallons of milk, but now issues vouchers. Clients take the vouchers to Save-A-Lot to select the milk of their choice – when they actually need it. We received fantastic feedback from our clients about the milk vouchers. They are thrilled to have a pre-paid voucher to get the milk that their family truly enjoys. Plus, since the pantry no longer stores milk in its coolers, the pantry has extra cooler space for things like eggs and yogurt when these items are available. It’s a win/win situation!
Qualifying for Food Assistance
Hope Center Pantry, Green Bay, serves people in need who live in Brown County, Wisconsin. The pantry encourages anyone who is in a rough spot, even temporarily, to request assistance. Individuals accepting food are asked to present a photo ID and a current piece of mail. If either of these forms of identification is not possible, individuals can talk with Hope Center Pantry to determine another way to qualify for assistance. No income verification is necessary. The pantry is open from 1-3 p.m. Monday – Thursday. Hope Center Pantry volunteers respect the dignity of all people who come to the pantry regardless of race, status or creed.
Hope Center Pantry is a steadfast partner of Freedom House Ministries. Freedom House, located on the East Side of Green Bay, assists families with dependent children who are experiencing homelessness. Freedom House, an emergency homeless shelter, can accommodate 16 families and assigns each family a room based on the family’s size. These three testimonials describe the powerful and life-changing experience that Freedom House residents experience.
I learned how it feels to live an abuse-free life, and I found my voice again.
Freedom House resident
Freedom House isn’t just a shelter, it’s a home full of happiness.
Freedom House resident
Freedom House changed our lives.
Freedom House resident
Freedom House, Green Bay
Freedom House provides residents with:
Meals & snacks
Personal hygiene items
Childcare support
Classes in parenting, employability skills, budgeting & independent living
Every family leaves the shelter with an individualized budget and an understanding of the qualities of a good tenant.
Homeless Shelter for Families with Children
Freedom House moved into a new location at 2997 St. Anthony Drive, Green Bay, in March 2020 and assisted 564 people in its first six months. Since opening in 1992, the homeless shelter has helped thousands of families and children. A majority of residents successfully journey to self-sufficiency and independence. Overall, Freedom House helps families become more independent and break the cycle of poverty. To assist with this goal, Hope Center Pantry donates food to the homeless shelter, to help those who are homeless in the community.
Food Donations for Nonprofits in Green Bay
Freedom House Ministries was overjoyed to receive food donations from Hope Center Pantry. The panty provided pasta, “helpers,” canned fruit, dental floss, powdered drink mixes and children’s snacks. Hope Center Pantry is committed to assisting Freedom House Ministries and other nonprofit agencies in Brown County by utilizing our talented, dedicated volunteers and surplus of food. Join us in our mission to to serve and guide those who are in need. It is our responsibility to empower and support others. Contact us to learn how.
The Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared,” takes on a new meaning every spring when the scouts gift our pantry with multiple pallets of nonperishable food. Three pallets were donated in 2022! Four pallets were donated in 2023! With hundreds of pounds of nonperishable food, the panty will “Be Prepared” to feed hundreds of children, adults, and families who are hungry. The pantry storage room at Hope Center Pantry, 505 Clinton St., Green Bay, is well-stocked every April after Scouting for Food.
Boy Scouts of the Bay-Lakes Council run Scouting for Food in April to collect nonperishable food door-to-door. They help fill Hope Center Pantry’s shelves.
Green Bay Boy Scouts Food Drive
Scouting for Food has been a Scouting tradition in the Boy Scouts Bay-Lakes Council for 35 years. Here’s how Scouting for Food works. On a Saturday in mid-April, Boy Scouts distribute door hangers in their neighborhoods announcing a food drive for nonperishables. Then, a week later, the Scouts return to these homes and pick up food donations that people leave by their front door. The food is then distributed to local food banks and pantries, like Hope Center Pantry on the West Side of Green Bay. Scouting for Food is a remarkable community service project making a healthy difference for those in need.
Well-Stocked with Nonperishable Food
Hope Center Pantry, Green Bay, is so appreciative of this door-to-door food drive every year. When the pantry is well-stocked with nonperishable foods, the pantry directors don’t need to use donated funds to purchase these food items. Instead, monetary donations can be allocated elsewhere to help those in need.
Thanks to All Involved in Scouting for Food
Thanks to all the Boy Scouts, Scout leaders and their families for participating in Scouting for Food. Also, thanks to the Hope Center Pantry volunteers who sort the pallets of food the pantry receives. With enough volunteers, we can sort the nonperishable food donations in record time!
