Stock the Shelves is USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin's biggest community fundraiser of the year, which aims to ensure families in area communities have food for the holidays. Jen Zettel
SHEBOYGAN - Tony Bliesner started volunteering at The Salvation Army food pantry when he retired because he remembered what it was like to visit one himself.
Now, Bliesner, 56, has been volunteering for three years, walking people through the pantry and helping them choose food. His role, he said, often lends itself to listening to people and getting to know more about what they have going on in their lives.
"They come for the food, but they want that relationship," Bliesner said.
As someone who has struggled with homelessness and drug addiction in the past, Bliesner can relate to people at their lowest points and said he does his best to make sure they aren't humiliated since they see a lot of people who are anxious about coming to the pantry.
"It made such an impression on me," Bliesner said, recalling going to food pantries when he was a child. "I had to get back."
Bliesner has gotten to know the people he's walked through the pantry — now many of them schedule their appointments on the days he's there.
In April, The Salvation Army Bread of Life Assistance Center in Plymouth merged with The Salvation Army in downtown Sheboygan. Now, the downtown location serves people throughout the entire county and anticipates an increase in need, especially with the holidays coming up. Through the Salvation Army, people can sponsor a family during the holiday season to provide gifts.
The Salvation Army also provides a calendar in English and Spanish of all pantries and their hours in the community.
The Salvation Army in Sheboygan serves an average of 750 people every month, said Carrye Jo Cony, development director.
"We are very proud to offer a choice food pantry," Cony said. That means people have the option to choose what food they get based on their dietary needs and what their kids like.
Of Sheboygan County's 115,000 people, 8.2% are considered to be food insecure, where they can't reliably get enough food to meet their needs, according to Feeding America's annual Map the Meal Gap Project. That's more than 9,000 people, 3,700 of whom are children.
The problem is apparent to food banks across the county, both to ones that have been in operation for years as well as Iglesia Evangelica, which opened a food pantry less than a year ago to meet demand.
Jane Sukowaty has been helping run the Sheboygan Food Pantry for 31 years and has seen the changes in need during that time. During the recession that started in 2008, Sukowaty remembers the pantry would see around 750 families.
"Luckily, it has come down," she said. Now, they average about 450 families.
The people who come to the food pantry are there for all sorts of reasons, Sukowaty said. They see a lot of elderly people and single parents. She doesn't hear everyone's story, but she knows some people need temporary help, like after moving to the area. Others need help long-term.
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"We are seeing a lot of new people," said Linda Maratik, who has been working for Calvary Lutheran's food pantry for 10 years.
Some people who come are out of work. Others have jobs but have trouble making ends meet.
Maratik said they only see some people once. Others have come since she's started working there. But all come because there's a need.
Contact Diana Dombrowski at ddombrowski@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @domdomdiana
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