2024 In Review: Rising Demand for Pantry Support
As we reflect on 2024, we are humbled to realize that The FOOD Pantry Serving Waukesha County continues to play a critical role in supporting families and individuals throughout our community who are facing food insecurity. Primarily due to the rising costs of living, the need for food assistance has never been greater in our community. We are grateful to our food pantry supporters, volunteers, and partners, who make it possible for us to meet this increasing demand.
A Growing Need: 2024 in Numbers
In 2024, we saw an ongoing increase in the number of individuals and families turning to The FOOD Pantry Serving Waukesha County for support. The following statistics demonstrate this growing demand:
- Total Households Served: We provided assistance to 3,567 unduplicated households with a total of 37,890 service visits, a 10% increase in the number of service visits compared to 2023 or a 39% increase when compared to 2022.
- Individuals Impacted: 8,897 unduplicated individuals received food, including 32% who are children and 9% who are seniors, demonstrating the rising number of vulnerable individuals experiencing food insecurity.
- New Clients: 1,240 new client households enrolled in and received assistance from The FOOD Pantry, an increase of 13% when compared to 2023 or a 41% increase when compared to 2022.
- Distribution Days: The pantry distributed food on 298 days, providing an average of 127 service visits per open pantry day.
- Expenditures on Food: Food donations and assistance have not kept pace with client growth. As a reliable source of food, if we do not receive sufficient food donations from the community or from The Emergency Food Assistance Program to support our operation, we must purchase food. In 2024, The FOOD Pantry increased the amount of money we had to spend on food. In calendar year 2024, $380,950 was spent on the purchase of food, a 19% increase over 2023 expenditures of $319,420 and a 93% increase over food expenditures in 2022 of $197,720.
These statistics are a sobering reminder that food insecurity is a pressing issue in Waukesha County. However, with the support of our community, we can tackle food insecurity in Waukesha County and be a beacon of hope to our county residents.
Looking Ahead to 2025: Addressing the Growing Need
While we have made great strides in 2024 to position our organization to address growing community need, there are still opportunities to improve our communication, outreach and the services provided to our clients. Here is how we will focus on these areas in 2025.
- Communication: Our goal is to raise awareness of need, provide information on programs and services offered at the pantry, and highlight the work that individuals and organizations are doing to support The FOOD Pantry. Through consistent and reliable communication via email and on our LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram accounts, we strive to ensure that our pantry supporters are well informed with the work that we are doing. Communication goes both ways, please reach out when you have questions or want to learn more about what The FOOD Pantry is doing.
- Connection & Outreach to the Community: The Pantry is expanding our outreach efforts to address the growing need for our services in Waukesha County. To make our outreach successful, we could use your help. Please consider connecting with contacts you have within local businesses, organizations, and individuals who would be interested in supporting The FOOD Pantry. Together, we can build a robust network of support that will have a lasting impact on our community.
- Service Provision: Our mission is to provide food, hope and dignity to our friends and neighbors in the Waukesha County community facing food insecurity. Our goal is to meet our mission as compassionately and efficiently as we can. The completion of our service space provides us with a greater opportunity to serve the growing number of clients. The FOOD Pantry is open six days a week with seven service times per week to ensure that we are available to our friends and neighbors facing food insecurity.
How You Can Help Us Succeed
Your support is more crucial than ever. As we are starting a new year, please consider continuing to support our organization through:
Donations: Both monetary and in-kind food donations are needed to keep our shelves stocked and ready to serve. Please consider supporting The FOOD Pantry by:
- Hosting a food drive or a fundraiser at a club, school, or place of employment. Most food drives occur from October-December. Please consider hosting a food drive the other months to maximize the impact to the pantry as we provide year-round support.
- Becoming a monthly supporter of the Pantry. Your gift can ensure that we have on-going revenue to support our food purchasing ability and meet the daily nutritional needs of our clients. You can become a monthly supporter on our donation page.
- Adding The FOOD Pantry as a beneficiary in your estate plan is a powerful way to ensure that your passion for our mission continues on.
- There are businesses in our community like Wilde Subaru—Share the Love, Meijer—Simply Give, and many businesses have our barrels located in their lobby or entrance space. As we work to grow our outreach efforts, please consider supporting those businesses in our community who support us.
Volunteering: There are opportunities for individuals and groups to help with sorting, packing, and distributing food. In 2024, 966 exceptional and dedicated volunteers contributed over 28,184 hours sorting, packing, delivering, and distributing food. This is an increase of 20% from 2023 in the number of volunteers (808 volunteers) and a 13% increase in the number of volunteer hours (24,987 hours). Their efforts help us ensure that every person who walks through our doors receives not just food but also compassion and support.
Community Outreach: If you are part of a local business, school, or organization that would like to get involved with The FOOD Pantry, we encourage you to reach out. Help us spread the word about this need in our community to raise awareness, funds, and food so no one in need goes hungry.
Thank you for your ongoing support and dedication to our mission.
Tags in this Post: News , Community , Volunteering , Food Drive , Letters
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