NEWS

Hunger knows no boundary lines

Nathan Phelps
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

CECIL – Tammy Loberger has several dozen cookbooks near the shelves where she keeps neatly arranged canned goods.

Cecil resident Tammy Loberger shows off some of the pasta she picked from the Shawano Area Food Pantry & Resource Center in Shawano on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

“I love to cook,” she said, pointing to her storage area just off the kitchen. “This is my fruit section. My vegetable section. Macaroni and cheese. Ketchup. Oh yeah, you even get … marinades and things like that. I take the exotic things; I like to mix it up.”

Many of those canned goods — meats, pasta, milk and other food in the home — are from the Shawano Area Food Pantry & Resource Center, one of hundreds of food assistance organizations helping people in Wisconsin’s rural communities and small cities.

“It’s a resource that can help you get by when you need the help,” Loberger said. “Without any income from me into the house, I can’t afford anything right now so I go there to help bring food in.”

The Shawano Area Food Pantry & Resource Center in Shawano on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

The Shawano Area Food Pantry & Resource Center is one of almost 900 programs tied to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, a food bank that delivered 22 million pounds of food to more than 377,000 people last year.

Gannett Wisconsin Media hopes to raise $802,000 to help fight hunger through its Stock the Shelves campaign. Through the first two weeks, the effort hit about 33 percent of its goal — almost $261,500 — across all 10 Gannett Wisconsin communities. The campaign runs through Dec. 8.

Loberger has used the pantry on and off for a number of years. She says two bulging discs in her neck keep her from working and she continues to make her case for disability benefits.

The pantry serves as a helping hand for her, a pair of children she cares for during the week, her fiancée, and his children who come every other weekend. The household operates on the single income provided by her fiancée.

“(The pantry) gives us the meals we need to keep the kids healthy and to keep us healthy,” said Loberger, who also utilizes a pantry in Cecil. “Between the two of them, it cuts our food bill way down.”

Rural need 

While food assistance and hunger are often thought of as urban issues, the need is just as pressing in small cities, towns and rural communities.

“What changed during the Great Recession, what the studies all showed, was the need in rural areas and small metro areas were actually growing faster than urban areas,” said Patti Habeck, executive vice president for Feeding America. “That was a big part of why we expanded our presence in northeastern Wisconsin from our small facility in Omro.”

The organization recently opened a new 40,000-square-foot food bank in Little Chute.

Volunteer Patti Kleczka assists a pantry client with choosing food at the Shawano Area Food Pantry & Resource Center in Shawano on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

“We knew we had to provide more service to these small communities as well as rural areas,” Habeck said.

The new building is part of the organization's efforts to provide more food, and a wider variety of food, to smaller communities. It’s also bolstering food delivery efforts to help smaller pantries that may not have the resources to make frequent trips to the Fox Valley.

“We really can’t put our guard down at all because every time we think we’re starting to catch up a little bit, the need increases,” Habeck said. “But the increasing need has leveled off a little bit and is not increasing as fast as it was the past few years. We take that as a very positive sign.”

Pamela Henson, regional president of Gannett Wisconsin Media, said the involvement of Green Bay Packer's receiver Randall Cobb and Festival Foods (which is a title sponsor with a commitment to donate at least $25,000) has brought additional attention to the campaign and helped sharpen the need across communities.

"It's not just about the food pantries that serve our major cities, like Appleton and Green Bay, this food goes out into the rural communities where the need is sometimes even greater that what we have," Henson said. "We definitely want to hit and exceed our $802,000 goal."

Henson said Cobb brings a high-profile face to the campaign.

"He's created higher awareness ... and we're hoping that will resonate with people," she said. "Supporting Stock The Shelves is a statement of support to the truly noble humanitarian Randall is."

A flurry of activity filled the Shawano Area Food Pantry & Resource Center as a quartet of users pushed red shopping carts down a pair of isles shortly  before the posted daily closing time of 11:30 a.m.  A volunteer helped them choose food and personal care items off shelves and out of a commercial refrigerator, similar to one you’d see a grocery store.

“You get to pick your food,” said Loberger, who donates some of her homegrown tomatoes to the pantry. “It’s not where they hand you a box, away you go, and you get home and half the stuff is stuff you don’t like or can’t use. It’s a good experience.”

Hugs make it worthwhile 

Florence Withers serves as the Shawano Area Food Pantry & Resource Center coordinator, and has been with the program since its inception 13 years ago. The pantry formed when a number of Shawano County churches and pantries consolidated efforts. Based in Shawano, it serves all of Shawano County.

Volunteer Sandra Moss assists a client with choosing food  at the Shawano Area Food Pantry & Resource Center in Shawano on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

Withers sees a mix of people. Some return frequently, others use the service a few times when circumstances dictate.

“We see a lot of elderly who are on Social Security who are on $700 or $800 a month with Social Security,” she said. “We also see younger people for two or three months and then they’re back on their feet.”

The pantry makes a difference in a small, rural community. Staffed by about 30 volunteers it helps an average of around 475 households a month.

Between 35 and 40 people will pass through the pantry during the two-and-half-hour window its open each week day.

“You know it’s important when you get the hugs and ‘Thank yous.’ When people leave and are amazed at how much they get,” Withers said. “The community is really generous, and we couldn’t do anything here without the community support, all the food drives, everything.

“It’s the hugs and the ‘Thank yous’ that make coming here really worthwhile.”

 nphelps@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @nathanphelpsPG or Facebook at Nathan-Phelps-Gannett-Media-Wisconsin 

How to Donate

Gannett Wisconsin Media needs your help to raise $802,500 for local food pantries in our 10 markets. To make a donation online, click on your market below. Donors will be recognized by name in their local newspaper. Thank you for your support!

Appleton: www.cffoxvalley.org/stocktheshelves
Fond du Lac: You may make call the Fond du Lac Area Foundation to make a credit card donation at (920) 921-2215. Mail checks to: Fond du Lac Area Foundation, 384 N. Main St.,  Fond du Lac, WI 54935. Please make checks payable to Stock the Shelves.
Green Bay: www.ggbcf.org/ggbcf/GivingOpportunities/tabid/145/Default.aspx
Oshkosh: www.oshkoshareacf.org
Sheboygan: www.sheboygancountyfoodbank.com
Wausau: www.cfoncw.org
Marshfield: marshfieldareacommunityfoundation.org/index.php?page=contribute
Wisconsin Rapids: www.incouragecf.org
Stevens Point:www.cfcwi.org