Category: Volunteers

Food Insecurity Grows: Pantry Aids 818 New Clients in 2023

Joan Koehne
pantry volunteers help ease food insecurity at Hope Center Pantry

Food insecurity continues to be an issue for many people in Northeast Wisconsin. In 2023, Hope Center Pantry saw an increase in the number of clients visiting the food pantry to receive free food. Hope Center Pantry registered 818 new clients in 2023. This was 300 more clients than 2022. In 2023, Hope Center Pantry served between 370 and 590 clients a month. These clients represented 1,400 to 2,300 family members. That is a lot of mouths to feed!

93 Pantry Volunteers Feed the Hungry in 2023

Food pantry volunteers make it their mission to do good and help others. In 2023, 93 volunteers helped Hope Center Pantry feed the hungry. Volunteers sorted food donations, registered clients, packed boxes, picked up food from Feeding America, entered data in the database, and performed other volunteer duties.

Help Us Combat Food Insecurity: Donate or Volunteer

Hope Center Pantry, 505 Clinton St., Green Bay, is open from 1-3pm Monday through Thursday. We serve the hungry in Greater Green Bay and Brown County, Wisconsin. Join us on our mission. Donate or volunteer today! Contact us to learn more.

Food Assistance: Pantry Serves 1,489 in November

Joan Koehne
ham on a platter like ham that Hope Center Pantry gave to clients as food assistance

The Hope Center Pantry collaborates with the Green Bay West-side Catholic churches to break the cycle of poverty. The mission of the Hope Center is to serve and guide those who are in need, empower and support others. To fulfill this mission, Hope Center Pantry provides nutritious meals for more than a thousand individuals experiencing food insecurity in the Green Bay area.

Putting Turkey, Ham on Holiday Tables

Monthly food assistance provides families with nutritious meals. In November, the panty gave away 33 turkeys to clients, and in December, the panty gave away 24 hams. The turkeys and hams were welcomed additions to clients’ Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.

Providing Food Assistance in 2023

As 2023 comes to an end, the food pantry totaled its food assistance numbers to determine the pantry’s impact on feeding the hungry of Green Bay.

  • In January 2023, Hope Center Pantry served 471 clients representing 1,774 family members.
  • In May 2023, Hope Center Pantry served 593 clients representing 2,319 family members.
  • In August 2023, Hope Center Pantry served 374 clients, representing 1,425 family members.
  • In November 2023, Hope Center Pantry served 417 clients representing 1,489 family members.

Filling Boxes for Hungry Families of All Sizes

Hope Center Pantry, 505 Clinton St., Green Bay WI, permits clients to pick up food for their households once a month. The pantry fills the food assistance boxes of different sizes, based on the size of the client’s family. The cost to fill each box varies, but the approximate costs are:

  • X-Large family – $53.48
  • Large family – $45.10
  • Small family – $32.65
  • Single family – $21.61

Working to End Food Insecurity in Green Bay

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.

Halloween Bash: Fun Night and Food Drive

Joan Koehne
Food drive donations for Hope Center Pantry

It wasn’t scary at all to collect food for the Hope Center Pantry. Two local companies combine efforts to create a fun evening and help stock the food supplies at Hope Center Pantry. On Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, the Alpha Team and Rogue Endeavors hosted their twelfth annual Halloween Boo Bash. The event was held at The Automobile Gallery & Event Center in downtown Green Bay. The theme was “A Night at the Movies.” Attendees were encouraged to dress as their favorite movie character. There were complimentary drinks, snacks, movie trivia games, and casino games.

1 in 5 Kids Face Hunger in Brown County, WI

Admittance to this event was a food donation. Why? Because 1 in 5 children in the Brown County area struggle to get enough to eat. This is a great way for these organization to put on a food drive to help support our local community. Who doesn’t enjoy socializing for a cause? There were over 150 attendees at this event. Hope Center Pantry couldn’t be more thrilled to be the recipients of so much, high-quality food.

Food Drive Shows Community Generosity

When our volunteers were sorting all of the donations from the food drive, there were so many squeals of delight. You made the volunteers day! But, even better than that, you made a difference to the lives of Hope Center Pantry clients. They know there are many generous folks in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to help them out. This Halloween event helped the Alpha Team and Rogue Endeavors reach their 2023 goal of collecting 100,000 pounds of food for local pantries.

To learn how to organize a food drive for your company or nonprofit organization, contact us.

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.

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.

Community Service Hours: Teen Manages Pantry’s Social Media

Joan Koehne
Hope Center teen volunteers earns community service by managing Facebook

Hope Center Pantry would like to thank Bella, a Mukwonago High School student who jumped at the opportunity to manage the pantry’s Facebook page. Bella plays JV Girls Volleyball and has a part-time job, so she likes the flexibility of being able to post to Facebook from home when she has free time. Not only is Bella helping promote the pantry on social media, she’s also earning community service hours required by her school. She’s doing a fantastic job, which helps Hope Center Pantry reach a broader audience.

Engaging with the Pantry’s Facebook Page

The Pantry Board recognized the need to expand the pantry’s social media presence, so the Pantry launched a Facebook page earlier this year. Prior to 2023, a Facebook Page for the pantry didn’t exist at all! Please help the pantry expand its reach by following, liking, commenting and sharing our social media posts. It doesn’t cost you a dime, and social media engagement helps the pantry share its message. Hope Center Pantry serves 350-500 clients a month who represent over 1,000 family members. To feed so many in Green Bay, we rely on food and monetary donations from the community. Social media helps us reach donors and clients, too.

Making Community Service Work for Students

Fitting community service hours into a student’s busy life can be challenging. During the school year, it’s hard to engage students in community service when the pantry is open, 1-3pm Monday through Thursday. Plus, it’s almost impossible to work around students’ extracurricular activities, like drama, sports, and music. That’s why the pantry has creative ways to get high school students involved in volunteerism for community service hours.

Helping High Schoolers Do Community Service

High school students are encouraged to contact Hope Center Pantry for more information about community service opportunities. We’re happy to work with you to find creative, enjoyable ways to fulfill your school’s community service requirements. Help us to help others!

Hunger on the Rise: Pantry Serves 2,319 Individuals in May

Joan Koehne
Janice and Chris Clemens sort donations at Hope Center Pantry
Hope Center Pantry Directors Chris and Janice Clemens
Photo by Timothy Mayer Artworks

Just when we thought our number of clients coming to Hope Center Pantry reached a high, the month of May 2023 really surprised us. We served 593 clients for a total of 2,319 family members! Compare this to our January 2023 outreach to 471 clients and 1,774 family members. Hunger is on the rise in Green Bay, Wisconsin!

Reduction in Food Shares/Food Stamps

Our clients tell us time and time again how much they appreciate the assistance they receive from the Hope Center Pantry. The food donations we provide allow them to feed their family nutritious meals. They are definitely feeling the recent reduction in their Food Shares/Food Stamps monies.

Thanks to Hope Center Pantry Volunteers

We are so grateful to have dedicated volunteers that show up day after day with such eagerness and understanding to give our clients a helping hand. Contact us to donate, volunteer, or request food assistance. Hope Center Pantry is open from 1-3pm Monday through Thursday at 505 Clinton St. Green Bay. Additionally, military veterans and active-duty personnel can pick up free food from 3-5pm on the second and third Tuesdays of the month.

2 Champions of the Poor: Hope Center Pantry & St. Vincent de Paul

Joan Koehne
A toy garage built from a box that contained food delivered by St. Vincent de Paul volunteer.

Give a boy a box, and his imagination will do the rest! We’d like to share this heartwarming story of two charitable organizations working hand-in-hand to make a difference in the life of a family in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

St. Vincent DePaul Answers the Call

Several volunteers at Hope Center Pantry also volunteer at St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP), Green Bay, Wisconsin. Recently, a SVDP volunteer took a call from a mother with two children. She was between jobs, her car broke down, she received an eviction notice, and her family was low on food. That’s a lot for anyone to handle.

Free Food from Hope Center Pantry

The St. Vincent de Paul volunteer scheduled to meet with her the following day for a full assessment, but it was obvious that she needed free food, immediately. It was 2:45pm on a Thursday (Hope Center Pantry closes at 3pm), and the SVDP volunteer offered to get her some food from Hope Center Pantry to help the mother and her children through the weekend. Hope Center Pantry volunteers promptly delivered a box of food to the family, and the mother was quietly surprised at the generous amount of food. Her little boy carried the gallon of milk into the apartment and came back to help some more. His eyes lit up when he saw the pizza and juice. The volunteer smiled and said she hoped they would enjoy it. He enthusiastically responded, “I’m going to enjoy ALL of it!”

St. Vincent de Paul In-Home Visit

When the St. Vincent de Paul in-home visit team went to the family’s apartment the next morning, the mother was making omelets with the eggs from the pantry. That was wonderful to see, but that’s not all that made the SVDP team happy. They noticed that the boy made a play garage for his toy cars from the Hope Center Pantry food box. Together, St. Vincent DePaul and Hope Center Pantry gave this mother and her son some much-needed support in a difficult time. What a blessing to spread a little bit of hope by helping others.

Help Others by Volunteering at Hope Center Pantry

Want to make a difference in the community by helping others as a Hope Center Pantry volunteer? Contact us about volunteer opportunities or to schedule a visit to the pantry to experience volunteerism first-hand. The pantry is open 1-3pm Monday through Thursday at 505 Clinton St. Green Bay. Read the How We You Help information to learn more. Volunteers provide an essential service to those in need in the Green Bay, Wisconsin, area. Thank you to all of the volunteers at St. Vincent de Paul and Hope Center Pantry.

Letter Carriers Food Drive Yields 6,000 Pounds of Food for the Hungry

Joan Koehne
volunteers at Hope Center Pantry sort donations from the Letter Carrier Food Drive

After a three-year hiatus because of COVID-19, the Letter Carriers Food Drive returned on May 13, 2023, to Brown County, Wisconsin. Green Bay-area residents were encouraged to leave a bag of food by their mailbox to help fight hunger.

Food Drive Collects 6,000 Pounds of Nonperishables

As a result of the Letter Carriers Food Drive, Hope Center Pantry received 10 totes of food, totaling about 6,000 pounds. What a busy day for letter carriers and pantry volunteers! Some Hope Center Pantry volunteers drove the mail carrier routes to collect the food donations. Other volunteers unloaded the nonperishable food at the Post Office and loaded it into totes. Many other volunteers sorted and stored the food at the pantry. What a tremendous effort by so many dedicated pantry volunteers.

Largest One-Day Food Drive in the Country

This food drive is sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers and is the largest one-day food drive in the country. Letter carriers give back to the community by collecting millions of pounds of food, all which stays in the area where it was collected. The 2023 food drive was the 31st event.

Organize a Food Drive at Your School or Business

Thanks to the National Association of Letter Carriers for helping address food insecurity in Brown County, Wisconsin, by organizing the Letter Carriers Food Drive. Hope Center Pantry was honored to receive and distribute the donated food to pantry clients. If your school, business, or nonprofit is interested in organizing a food drive or collection drive for Hope Center Pantry, please contact us. Help us serve and guide those who are in need in the Green Bay area.

Hope Center Pantry Opens Late for Veterans & Active Military

Joan Koehne
man in a military uniform to represent extended food pantry hours for veterans

Starting in May 2023, Hope Center Pantry, Green Bay, Wisconsin, extended its pantry hours to specifically serve military veterans. Military veterans and active-duty personnel can visit Hope Center Pantry to pick up free food from 3-4pm on the second and third Tuesdays of the month. Volunteers, who are veterans also, serve their fellow veterans during these extended food pantry hours. Hope Center Pantry is located at 505 Clinton Street on the West Side of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Hunger Impacts Lives of Military Veterans

Hunger affects many military veterans and their families every day. 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.

Extended Pantry Hours to Feed Hungry Veterans

Hope Center Pantry is giving back to veterans and active military members who serve our country now or in the past. The extended food pantry hours for veterans are designed to help military families make ends meet. If you or someone you know is active military or a military veteran in need of food assistance, visit Hope Center Pantry for free food during regular pantry hours or the military-only hours.

Veterans Encouraged to Volunteer at Food Pantry

Additionally, if you’re a military veteran looking to give back to the community and other veterans, consider becoming a food pantry volunteer. Contact us about volunteer opportunities or to schedule a visit to the pantry to experience volunteerism first-hand. The pantry is open 1-3pm Monday through Thursday at 505 Clinton St. Green Bay. Read the How Can We Help information to learn more. Volunteers provide an essential service to those in need in Green Bay, Wisconsin, including active military and veterans.