Stock the Shelves food drive tops $500K

With its yearly goal in sight, the 2014 Gannett Wisconsin Media Stock the Shelves campaign has surpassed $500,000 raised to combat hunger in the region.

The ongoing effort by the 10 media companies that make up Gannett Wisconsin Media has set a goal of raising $700,000 this holiday season to benefit food pantries throughout the state.

Stock the Shelves last year raised a record-high $692,383 that was distributed among 96 local pantries. Organizers this year set the goal higher still. The holiday fund drive is intended to combat a growing hunger problem in the region, with studies showing that more and more families are struggling to put food on their table and increasingly rely on food pantries for help.

Stock the Shelves efforts in Green Bay, Appleton and Fond du Lac this season are closing in on their individual goals for the year.

Although the campaign is well under way, there is still time to donate in markets including Manitowoc, Marshfield, Sheboygan, Wausau.

The Appleton Post-Crescent held the first Stock the Shelves drive in 1995, and the campaign has grown significantly in the past 19 years. Since it became a statewide campaign four years ago, the effort has raised a total of $2.4 million.

Here is how each Gannett Wisconsin Media community is doing so far this year: