At the Middleton Outreach Ministry Food Pantry, 3502 Parmenter St., program director Meghan Sohns said inflation has hurt the pantry’s ability to purchase as much food as needed, even as need increased.
Join us in building a community where everyone can thrive.
Ryan and Lexy* began visiting WayForward’s food pantry after he was laid off from a marketing firm where he had a promising career path. Lexy is in treatment for cancer and has significant medical bills. The couple is using all of their savings to maintain the health insurance coverage from Ryan’s former employer while he looks for another job. The pantry is a critical piece of their stability, allowing them to stay in their apartment.
Food from the pantry has also been a lifeline for Ana and her two children since she arrived here from Venezuela — a country in crisis — to stay with her sister. Ana’s husband has been working in Arizona for the past year and will join them as soon as he can find a job here. In the meantime, WayForward’s food pantry is how Ana ensures that her kids have enough nutritious food to eat.
Jade was struggling to pay rent after unexpectedly needing to care for her infant grandson. 
She came to WayForward for financial assistance once the costs of caring for a growing baby hit her monthly budget. Jade regularly visits the food pantry to help bridge the gap, so she can provide a safe and stable home for her grandchild.
Everyone who comes to the pantry has a story that is uniquely their own — what they all share is the increased stability that comes from access to nutritious food. Together, we’re providing food to more people than ever before in our 40-year history.
Demand has doubled in the last year due in part to pandemic-era food and rental assistance from the federal government coming to an end. In addition, the cost of housing continues to rise at record levels – a recent national study found that Madison has the fastest-rising rent of any major city in the United States.
We are proud that we continue to meet this need as we grow and change significantly post-pandemic. We are using more donor dollars to purchase food than we did in the past and we work hard to make strategic choices about what and when to buy to maximize our purchasing power. Your partnership is critical to how we’ll sustain what we offer and ensure that everyone who walks through our door has access to a fully-stocked pantry.
When you give to WayForward, you join a community effort along with other donors, partners, volunteers and staff to provide access to nutritious, culturally specific food for children and adults in Dane County. All donations will be used for the greatest need across our food security and housing stability programs.
GIVE TODAY*names and identifying details changed
Hunger Action Month is a nationwide initiative to raise awareness of hunger, encourage people to take action towards supporting those facing hunger and address the systemic inequities that can lead to someone being food insecure.
We’re sharing four ways you can get involved and help make a difference.
#1 Donate to your local food pantry
- Shop our Top 10 list and check with other Dane County pantries for their most urgent needs, including: Badger Prairie Needs Network, Goodman Community Center Fritz Food Pantry, The River Food Pantry, Society of St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry and Sun Prairie Emergency Food Pantry.
#2 Wear orange
- Get ready for Go Orange Day on Friday, September 15, and invite others to join us in building a community where everyone has access to nutritious food and the stability to thrive.
#3 Learn more about food insecurity
- Listen to Feeding America’s podcast “Elevating Voices, Ending Hunger”
- Read this recent story from Wisconsin Watch: “Support for food insecurity rose during the pandemic, but Wisconsin families now left with patchwork of solutions to hunger”
- Get the basics on Food Security from the Wisconsin Food Security Project at UW-Madison
#4 Organize a food drive!
- Food drives are one of the ways we keep our shelves stocked with a variety of options for people who shop the pantry. You can organize a drive in your office, school, sports team, faith community, neighborhood or other group. Get started now
Carmen Karvelis, our new Food Access Manager, leads WayForward’s food pantry and develops and maintains partnerships with volunteers, donors, and community agencies.
Before joining WayForward earlier this year, she was the e-pantry coordinator for The River Food Pantry in Madison. Carmen also has several years of domestic violence survivor advocacy and housing experience, which helps her collaborate with our housing stability team and understand the barriers our clients/guests face when accessing programs. In her spare time, Carmen loves cooking and spending time with friends. She also enjoys playing music and going to concerts.
WayForward Resources was so excited to receive a donation from Metro Market and Pick ‘n Save stores of $30,000 of food and personal essentials weighing nearly 18,000 pounds to help fight hunger in our community. Staff and volunteers were thrilled when the truck filled with 20 pallets of everything from diapers and formula to spaghetti sauce and canned goods arrived. With the huge increase in demand we’ve seen, the timing couldn’t have been better.
Staff and volunteers were there to receive and then later sort the food. “The timing is perfect,” said Laurie Baker, long-time WayForward volunteer. “We needed the food desperately.” One volunteer who helped receive the donation was Kevin Walther. Kevin used to work at the Middleton Pick ‘n Save (now Metro Market) for five years bagging, stocking, and facing items. He’s been volunteering at WayForward for one year. Kevin wore his red cape because it reminds him of staying positive, working together, and helping others who need assistance. “You’re a hero for helping people out,” Kevin said.
“Inflation and the end of Covid-era assistance has led to us serving the equivalent of more than 90,000 meals a month, a 130% increase from last year,” said Ellen Carlson, Executive Director of WayForward Resources. “We are so excited about this donation from Metro Market and Pick ‘n Save stores because not only does it help fill our shelves with nutritious food for people in our community, but it will make available a huge variety of food, allowing people to select food that makes sense for them and their families.”
The generous donation received media coverage from News 3 Now, WKOW 27 and the Middleton Cross Plains Times-Tribune.
We are thankful for heroes like Kevin and Laurie and our friends at Metro Market and Pick ‘n Save stores who make it possible for more people in our community to access healthy food.
This week we welcomed Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and State Rep. Alex Joers for a tour of our food pantry. MOM has received a nearly $202,000 COVID Food Pantry Aid Assistance Grant from Dane County that will allow us to cover the costs of a new freezer/cooler, bulk food and more food pantry staff hours. Executive Director Ellen Carlson shared information with Parisi and Joers about the rising demand for our food security and housing stability programs. Food pantries across the county are expecting an increase in demand in the wake of a reduction in extra FoodShare benefits put into place during the pandemic, a change that will affect thousands of Dane County residents who rely on the program to access food for their families. We are currently providing the equivalent of more than 70,000 meals a month, which is more than double from last year and the most in our history. MOM is grateful for support from the county and our elected officials as we work to build food security in our community.
Have dinner plans for tonight? All month long, six Madison Originals restaurants will be collecting nonperishable food donations for MOM: 1847 at the Stamm House, Grape Water Wine Bar, Imperial Garden West, Longtable Beer Cafe, Nitty Gritty in Middleton and Buck & Honey’s in Monona. “We want to make sure that we can help our community the best way we can,” Sarah Niehaus, director of Madison Originals, told the Wisconsin State Journal. The nonprofit association of local, independently owned restaurants put together the “Mad Can” food drive to benefit MOM and other local food pantries. Thank you to these restaurants for bringing our community together to build food security for our neighbors!
Check out recent media coverage of the Mad Can Food Drive and learn more about food security in our community!
NBC 15: Madison-area restaurants support food pantries with ‘Mad Can’ Food Drive
News 3 Now: Area restaurants taking part in food drive to help those in need
WKOW-TV: Madison restaurants join forces this February to support local food pantries
Wisconsin State Journal: 30 Madison-area restaurants collecting food pantry donations (WSJ)
At our food pantry, we frequently hear from clients who are in search of pet food for their furry family members.
Last Friday, a team from Pick ‘n Save and Metro Market delivered a donation of 13,000 cans of premium cat food for distribution to neighbors in our community facing the challenge of the rising costs of pet food.
“Our goal is to support the entire family, and we know that pets are an important part of the family,” says MOM Program Director Meghan Sohns. “Many of our clients will be thrilled to have access to this cat food for their pets.”
Financial barriers are one of the main reasons why 6.3 million companion animals (3.2 million cats) are surrendered to shelters each year, according to ASPCA.org. And the Washington Post reported in December that animal shelters across the country have seen an influx of pet surrenders over the last year as inflation affects household budgets.
“It’s so much better for pets to stay in the household and for us to provide these family needs,” says Emilie Williamson, Corporate Affairs Manager at Pick ‘n Save and Metro Market. “Pets are a big part of our families.”
In total, the grocers delivered more than 25,000 units of cat food to organizations in Madison and Milwaukee.
Watch News 3 Now’s coverage of the delivery.
A new story in the Wisconsin State Journal covers how the pandemic-era boost in federal funding that some families receive to buy groceries is coming to an end in February, another blow for those already struggling to afford food during a time of high inflation. The story includes interviews with people affected by this change and staff from area food pantries who expect to see increased demand, including MOM:
“In November 2021, we gave people 39,226 meals,” Sohns says. “Compared to November 2022, it was 81,287.”
Like Kane, Sohns said the federal pandemic-related aid provided a temporary reprieve for those who depend on food pantries.
“We saw at the beginning of the pandemic, there was the eviction moratorium, people were getting the extra FoodShare benefits, the child tax,” Sohns said. “And as that has decreased over the last two years, we’re seeing a significant increase. So we’re expecting a significant increase in usage and pounds (of food going) out.”
The story notes that families enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), called FoodShare in Wisconsin, will see benefits reduced by at least $95 a month after Congress voted late last year to end the extra support added during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from January to December of last year, grocery prices increased 11.8%, with a 15.3% hike for dairy products alone. On average, 45,184 Dane County households receive FoodShare benefits each month, according to the Wisconsin Department of Human Services.
Media coverage of the upcoming changes to FoodShare benefits has increased in recent days, including a recent story from the Middleton Cross Plains Times-Tribune that includes comments from MOM Executive Director Ellen Carlson:
The end of additional FoodShare dollars is a concern for already overwhelmed food pantries, and the food pantry at Middleton Outreach Ministry (MOM) is no exception. MOM Executive Director Ellen Carlson said on Tuesday, “We are anticipating an increase in need and subsequent increase in usage of the food pantry with the end of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFRCA). According to the Hunger Task Force, the average Foodshare recipient in Wisconsin will lose about $122 on their benefits beginning in March.”
Carlson told the newspaper that pantries were already feeling the strain, and visitors to the pantry have increased.
“Food pantry usage has doubled since this time last year. In addition, we are not getting food from as many sources as we did before the pandemic and the mix of those sources is constantly shifting. In order to bridge the gap between demand for food and donated food, we have been purchasing more food than ever before. We are concerned about having enough food to meet the needs of everyone who relies on our food pantry to provide food for their families,” she explained.
MOM is encouraging local individuals, businesses and organizations to conduct food drives to help bridge the gap.
“Community food donations are a great way to increase diversity of items available, as well. Dignity of choice has always been a priority as we consider what we have to offer our food pantry guests. We also recently launched an Amazon Wish List where people buy high-demand items and send them directly to our food pantry. Food drives can be small or large–among a few neighbors or friends–or larger drives by churches, businesses, or schools.”
To learn more about how to organize a food drive visit: drives.momhelps.org.
The big game brings people together to share food and fun. MOM brings our community together to create food security. This year, we’re inviting you to make your Super Bowl Sunday part of the solution. Help us get a strong start to our #driveforfood on Sunday, Feb. 12, by drafting your Super Bowl watch party guests to bring donations of food and personal care items for MOM’s food pantry.
Food pantry usage has doubled since last year and demand is expected to grow in March when extra FoodShare benefits put into place during the pandemic come to an end. We are concerned about having enough food to meet the needs of everyone who relies on our pantry to provide food for their families and that we may have to change our services.
We are not getting food from as many sources as we did before the pandemic and the mix of those sources is constantly shifting. In order to bridge the gap between demand for food and donated food, we have been purchasing more food than ever before; supply chain issues and other factors affecting retailers make this difficult. As we plan for the future, we must consider new ways to bring in food to meet our increased food needs.
The pandemic paused community food drives – they were a critical part of how we provide food to our neighbors. We need more community food drives now and throughout the year. Food drives can be small or large – among a few neighbors or friends – or larger drives by churches, businesses, or schools. You can plan your drive at drives.momhelps.org. Watch our social media and your email for more ideas for your food drives.
We welcome a wide variety of foods! Besides reducing the amount of food available, the decrease in community drives has also significantly decreased the variety of food on our shelves. Dignity of choice has always been a priority as we consider what we have to offer our food pantry guests. Please check out our donation guidelines and share them with your friends and family.
We recently launched an Amazon Wish List where people can buy high-demand items and send them directly to our food pantry. We’ll continue to update this list based on the needs of our guests. We’re so grateful to those who have already made purchases to help stock our shelves and to those of you who choose to make financial donations to support our food security and housing stability programs.