Food pantries work to keep up with demand - Portage Daily Register

Eating is essential to survival, but what do people do when food isn't available?

Food pantries have become an essential source of sustenance for many people in the area. The services have moved, renovated and expanded in the past 30 years as their need continues to grow.

While many people are grateful for the locally provided assistance, it also signifies the amount of people in need.

The pantries are led by dedicated volunteers, but they can’t do it all alone. With federal regulations tightening, most pantries receive little government aid. They depend heavily on local donations, food drives and special events to help bring in supplies.

It's a constant struggle to keep replenishing.

More people in need

Sauk Prairie pantry board member John Ramthun said the amount of people served has grown through the years, and it rose significantly during the last recession.

“It’s an important safety net,” Ramthun said. “At any moment, in any of our lives, we could be one or two situations away from needing help from a food pantry. What I love about this food pantry is that is it’s not intended to provide your entire menu of items for the month, but it’s there for folks who need it for a week, month or several years to get back on their feet.”

With Reedsburg’s senior population on the rise, it’s important for seniors on a fixed income to have a place to receive food when money is tight.

“I don’t think our situation is a whole lot different from other communities,” said Reedsburg Food Pantry President Bess Little. “We have seniors and people with disabilities who can’t make it on social security payments alone.”

The pantry usually sees more clients in August before the start of school. Once children are in school, they can utilize the school lunch program and some districts provide a light breakfast too. Reedsburg’s pantry also experiences more traffic in the winter when travel is limited. It's a similar situation in Portage, according to pantry president Charles Bradley.

“There are certain seasons when a lot of people come and then they might get back on their feet somehow so they’re on their own again, which is what we want,” Bradley said. “The numbers always bounce around and they don’t always make sense.”

The one thing known for sure is the numbers are increasing.

“About 20 years ago, we were providing food to about 30 households per month, so it has definitely grown through the years,” said Wisconsin Dells Community Action supervisor Lisa Williams. “But we seem to have finally hit a plateau where it doesn’t fluctuate as much anymore.”

The holiday season can be an especially busy time for food pantries. Finances are often tight for people and utility bills can hit families hard in the early winter months. School shopping can also increase in November and December as parents are buying heavy winter clothes for their children.

“We have a lot of people who rely on the food pantry just to get through the month,” said Baraboo Food Pantry Vice President and Secretary JoAnn Trager. “Those programs like Food Share, it helps, but there is still a need. Baraboo seems like an economically sound town, but there are plenty of people who have to choose between paying rent or buying food.”

Sometimes those who need help feel too much embarrassment to seek it.

“We’ve worked a lot on our seniors who come regularly every month, but we really want families to use the service more if they need it,” said Mauston Community Sharing Food Pantry Director Kathy Green. “We need to work with people and their schedules. We like to be flexible, but pride is a hard thing to overcome for a lot of people.”

Sauk Prairie has also found some people to be reluctant to visit its pantry, but the volunteers do what they can to ease any tensions.

“There are times when we have patrons who share what is going on in their lives and sometimes that involves some tears, but they are not alone,” said Sauk Prairie Area Food Pantry Manager Carol Gagnon. “Many of them are going through the same situations and will share their own stories to make them feel more comfortable.”

Buildings grow as need grows

Many food pantries start from humble beginnings, but Reedsburg's started much smaller than most.

The Reedsburg Food Pantry began in the closet of a downtown church. Through the years, the pantry relocated to a hospital before moving to its current location, inside the basement of city hall at 547 N. Park Street.

The need for more space is a common refrain heard from pantries.

Through a grant matched by community donations, the Mauston Area Community Sharing Pantry underwent an extensive expansion earlier this year. The new space will be unveiled to the Mauston community at an open house on October 16. It started with a very small space at St. Patrick Catholic Church in 1983 and now owns a building at 1 Kennedy Street.

In July, Portage's food pantry moved from the basement of St. Paul the Baptist Episcopal Church to Lincoln Park; 405 E. Howard Street.

Bradley said the move was something the pantry discussed for a couple years.

“We were looking to expand and considered a number of spaces, but they were out of our reach. We got a very good deal on the city building at Lincoln Park — a wonderful arrangement for us and we just knew we could not do better,” he said. “It was convenient for older and handicapped people and we seem to be quite able to make use of that space. Without the old stairs that we were dealing with at the church, we’re able to move food in a much more convenient method.”

Sauk Prairie Area Food Pantry has outgrown its current space and plans to move into a new facility in early 2017.

“It will allow us to have so much healthier food and space for fresh produce,” said Gagnon.

Finding the funds

Each food pantry finds a number of ways to provide as much food as possible.

“We have had a lot of cooperation from the community, which is really nice,” Reedsburg’s Little said. “It’s all done on a volunteer basis and we do it without asking for any funds. We get a little bit of funding, but nothing from the government — nothing. We don’t need it.”

Little said local donations provide much of the pantry's food, and a small item can go a long way.

One volunteer brings fresh vegetables from her daughter’s garden every summer, which is a treat to many of Reedsburg’s clients. Even a donated box of macaroni and cheese can provide a meal to someone who is hungry.

“Many of the people we see live in apartments and can’t grow a garden,” Little said. “We are always looking for donations.”

The Dells pantry does two fundraisers per year; a summer golf outing and serving as a stop for the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train each December. The Holiday Train also stops in Mauston and Portage. It is a large food drive for pantries, featuring raffles and live music.

“We’re not sure when it will arrive this year yet, but it’s always around the first week of December, so we’re hoping for the same time again this year,” Williams said.

Juneau County has five pantries that serve all of its school districts. Green said that shows the level of support neighboring communities have for food pantries.

The pantry only receives about 10 percent of its products from federally-funded sources; the rest comes through donations and help from Second Harvest. It helps that Green is a steadfast grant writer who is always looking for opportunities to receive monetary support.

Volunteers make everything possible

Green, who has fibromyalgia, survived a bout with breast cancer, but was forced to give up her full-time job in the late 1990s. Not willing to sit at home and dwell, her doctor told her to find a volunteer cause she’s passionate about. She began volunteering at the pantry in Mauston 18 years ago and fell in love with it.

“Giving people the best service with dignity is always a goal,” Green said. “It should be for any community. You can’t just pretend something is not there and hope it goes away. Giving people help without judging them is so important.”

Little has worked with the pantry in Reedsburg for five years, but several dedicated volunteers have been with the organization for decades.

“We would like to have a few more young people come in to help us,” Little said. “I really want to praise our workers and the people who donate items. All this wouldn’t work without them. We wouldn’t be here.”

Even after 35 years at the Portage pantry, Bradley still has a passion for serving others. He said people in the community know the importance of having a steady pantry and there are plenty of citizens who need a little boost. While he’s put in many long days at the pantry, Bradley knows it’s worth it.

“I’m absolutely amazed at the amount of food we are given and we’re using it all to make sure people are supplied,” Bradley said. “A lot it has to do with my religious beliefs. There are a few things that I believe are important and I think we should support the poor, especially in our community.”

As he gets older, Bradley is looking for younger volunteers to take the reins, but for now, he’s dedicated to serving the Portage area.

The Sauk Prairie pantry is grateful for the large amount of people it has dedicate time.

“We have about 200 volunteers that help us through the year,” Gagnon said. “The community support is amazing. If I need volunteers, I can put an announcement on Facebook and almost immediately I have volunteers.”

Baraboo’s Trager continues to find fulfillment after 18 years of service.

“When you just realized that you’ve fed a family in need, it brings tears to your eyes,” Trager said. “To see the look on people’s faces is so gratifying.”

In the end, it’s about helping people.

“The bottom line is we do not want people to go hungry,” Green said.