“I love the idea of supporting a cause that matters to me on Giving Tuesday. Middleton, Cross Plains and the greater West side of Madison is a wonderful community, yet there are many who struggle to feed their family or keep up with rent. I feel a personal connection to make my donation local and help those in my own community. WayForward has seen demand triple in the food pantry over the past two years. As I have learned while serving on the Board of Directors, food selection and availability have also become more of a challenge. We have all faced times of difficulty and challenge, supporting our neighbors in times of need is what makes our community strong. If you are able, please consider making a Giving Tuesday donation. Your donation, of any size, will make a difference.”

Kate Nisbet, WayForward Resources Board Member
(Pictured on the far right in photo)

You can join community members like Kate by making a difference on Giving Tuesday. Follow along on Facebook on December 3rd!

Raices Latinx, the UW Credit Union Hispanic and Latino Employee Resource Group, answered our call for community help in addressing the current food shortage in our pantry. The group organized a food drive that gathered over 400 pounds of food to help meet the increased need. “We couldn’t have had the outcome we did without everyone’s participation,” says Jessica De Vicente, Assistant Branch Manager and Co-Lead for the group. “That ‘small’ donation really adds up when many people contribute collectively. Overall, we are proud of how excited everyone was throughout this drive in the joy of being able to help others. Community matters and it’s heartwarming when we all come together for a good cause.” UW Credit Union also supports WayForward through generous unrestricted grants for food and housing access.

Join UW Credit Union in supporting WayForward this Giving Tuesday. Follow us on Facebook to join the fun!

 

“As COVID restrictions eased, I sought out volunteer opportunities in the Seniors Program at WayForward. I joined the volunteers who schedule rides and drive seniors to appointments. Over the last two and half years, I have also learned much more about the ever-increasing need for services and resources related to food insecurity and housing stability. I am continually amazed at the dedication of staff and volunteers to support the needs of the community. All this has inspired me to continue to support the mission of WayForward with volunteer time and financial support.

Now more than ever, whatever you can do, do it! Every volunteer effort and financial contribution makes a difference.”

Gale Barber, WayForward Volunteer

You can join community members like Gale by making a difference on Giving Tuesday. Follow along on Facebook on December 3rd!

When Silver Lining Taekwon-do held its first Black Belt test in May 2017, staff, friends and families of the eleven Black Belt candidates donated funds to WayForward Resources (then-Middleton Outreach Ministry).

Since then, the Middleton martial arts school’s twice-a-year black belt tests have also served as a mini-fundraiser to support WayForward’s food and housing programs, with owners Mathiam and Laura Mbow matching contributions.

“At Silver Lining Taekwon-Do, we believe in the power of community and being there for one another.  We believe that when everyone does better, we all do well,” the couple writes. “It is for that reason that we are proud to be a supporter of WayForward which does so much goodness in our community helping those who are less fortunate. Thank you, WayForward for all you do and you can always count on Silver Lining Taekwon-Do to help in any way we can.”  

There wasn’t a specific goal when the team at Middleton-based NET started a month-long food drive in response to the rising need at WayForward and other food pantries across Dane County.

But that was before the competition got serious.

Once the team at NET (Network Engineering Technologies) split into four teams, collecting food each week to earn the pieces to a 1,000-piece puzzle, the potential impact of their efforts quickly took shape.

After just one week, the company brought in 650 pounds of food. Each team of 25 people took advantage of the chance to earn five puzzle pieces for bringing in meal ingredients like pasta and sauce or canned chicken and rice. NET launched the drive following a collective call for help from three dozen food Dane County food pantries.

“With people still working a hybrid or fully at home schedule I just wasn’t sure what I could hope to expect – but people have blown my mind with how generous they’ve been!” says Laura Duffield, NET’s Accounts Receivable Manager, who led the effort. “Making it a competition between groups has also been a big driver of success.”

Another motivating factor was the decision to drop NET’s donated items off weekly at WayForward’s pantry warehouse, she says. “It’s great to get a group of people over there to unload so they can see where their donations are going, and helps to feel ‘refreshed’ for the next round of weekly donations.”

Week two of NET’s drive focused on personal hygiene, with donations including laundry detergent and period products. Teams competing to collect more puzzle pieces brought in another 437 pounds for the pantry.

“Now that we’re two weeks in and have a little over 1,000 pounds donated, I’m making it our goal to hit a TON of food by the time the drive is over,” Duffield said after week two.

After week three, Net brought in another 1,083 pounds of pantry staples including cooking oil, flour and sugar, bringing their running total to over a ton of donated food and personal items for the pantry.

Another benefit to the effort? Building more connections between team members who are remote and those working in the office, Duffield says.

Halfway through the drive, one of the teams had almost completed their puzzle. That moved captains for the other teams to email their members to drum up support and offer to use monetary donations sent via Venmo to do the shopping. “I think this has helped people who might feel overwhelmed going to the store and bringing it all in,” Duffield says.

In the fourth week, the drive theme was peanut butter & jelly and cereal. The final week focused on collecting school supplies for WayForward’s Back to School Program. Teams could also earn puzzle pieces throughout the competition for bringing in items from WayForward’s Most Needed Items List.

The winning team would get bragging rights and and the coveted “banana trophy.” The reward for everyone included a celebration lunch with yard games.

But the biggest goal was for all four teams to complete their puzzles — and bring in as much food as possible. 

In the end, NET brought in 2,438 pounds of food and 140 pounds of School supplies, an effort that Duffield says speaks to the spirit everyone brought to the effort.

“I was lucky to have a great group of volunteers who have done most of the heavy lifting and some great team captains who have really stepped up and rallied support,” Duffield says. “I would tell another company that wants to do a drive to try and not feel overwhelmed and be hopeful at how generous people will actually be.” 

At the age of 67, Vicki feels she is stable in her housing for the first time in 10 years.

She credits the support she received last year from WayForward. The financial assistance from our Housing Stability program helped cover entry costs so Vicki could move out of our service area into subsidized housing for seniors in another community. WayForward case managers work with Housing Stability program participants to solve immediate needs and work toward their long-term goals.

Once Vicki was settled in her new home, she was able to pay closer attention to her health. A month after relocating, she discovered she had cancer. It took some time to convince her doctors, but after surgical treatment she is now cancer-free.

Vicki says she gives a great deal of credit for her stability to the Housing Stability program and told her case manager that WayForward helped save her life.

 

“Working with seniors, I have the privilege of witnessing firsthand the profound impact that community engagement and sustainability efforts have on our community.

We believe in fostering a sense of strength, purpose, and belonging, not just within our own senior community, but throughout Dane County. This is why I am deeply committed to supporting WayForward Resources.

Our efforts in the Back-to-School drives, plastic bag drives, and food drives are more than just events; they are lifelines that connect us to our community. It is also an honor to serve on the WayForward Leadership Committee. These initiatives are instrumental in promoting community wellbeing and sustainability, benefiting both the seniors we serve and the community as a whole.

Supporting WayForward Resources allows us to extend our reach and amplify our impact. Together, we are building a stronger, more resilient community where everyone, regardless of age, can thrive. It is an honor to be part of this journey, and I am grateful for the opportunity to give back to a community that has given us so much.”

—Taylor Powless, marketing director, Cardinal View Senior Living

 

Over the summer, Middleton High School Key Club co-presidents Noah Duckett and Wyatt Ehrhardt came up with an idea that very quickly turned into a reality.

“We learned that food insecurity was a huge problem,” Ehrhardt says. “Noah and I immediately wanted to help, so we partnered with WayForward to collect and donate nonperishable food items.”

The high school seniors formed Middleton Meals Matter, a group of volunteers committed to fighting hunger and supporting our community. The teens have had huge success from their earliest efforts this summer, already bringing in two tons of food for WayForward’s pantry at a time when it most needed additional food to keep up with demand.

How did they do it? Social media savvy and people power.

 

For its first food drive benefiting WayForward, the group filled volunteer shifts for a day-long event at Metro Market brought in 1,700 pounds of donated food and nearly $1,000 in cash donations for WayForward. Duckett says he was blown away by the compassion of people in Middleton.

“We’re firsthand making the change,” Duckett says. “It’s great to donate, but if you get to see the change that you’re making, it’s even better.”

One month later, the teens held a second drive at Metro Market that brought in 2,400 pounds of food and $1,400 in cash donations. Duckett said one shopper invited him along inside the store and invited him to fill a cart with whatever he wanted for the drive.

“This one was even more special, because we didn’t know if the first one would be more successful and more of a fluke,” says senior Grace Parker, one of the group’s board members. “It was great to see all the people still being receptive to us and participating. A lot of people were really happy to see younger people in the community being active in something like this. Often it’s your parents or your grandparents.”

Now the group feels momentum, driven by its efforts on TikTok and word of mouth. “Everyone who’s volunteered said they’d love to volunteer again,” says Duckett, a feat with most volunteers being busy Key Club members and varsity athletes at Middleton High School.

The group has another drive scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28, at Metro Market, right before the end of Hunger Action Month, a nationwide effort to raise awareness about hunger in America and inspire action.

“This effort shows our community that anyone of any age can make a difference in their community,” Ehrhardt says. “I also think that we motivate the community to donate because they see how we as young people recognize the need to support our community.”

The Mulcahy Family is providing a #GivingTuesday challenge gift this year in hopes of motivating future generations to give back.

“WayForward as Middleton Outreach Ministry (MOM) provided a way for my family to participate in our community’s care for those who found themselves in need of support,” says Patricia Mulcahy. “When our children were young, I served on the MOM Board of Directors representing my parish and provided transportation for an elderly woman through the Project for Older People. Over the years the organization’s outreach has evolved and broadened and the community has continued to step up. Our children now have children of their own and this gift is to encourage them to support others through their communities.” 

For T Sneed, helping kids get a strong start to the school year provided major motivation.

This year, Sneed and their co-workers at Exact Sciences held a drive that collected 239 pounds of school supplies for WayForward’s Back to School Program, which helped fill backpacks that went out to hundreds of students this year. Sneed, Administrator of Laboratory Service Training at Exact Sciences in Madison, is also a new member of WayForward’s Leadership Council, which brings together community members to help support and advocate for the organization’s mission.

“WayForward is a dynamic nonprofit organization which mobilizes the Dane County community to address barriers to accessing healthy food among other natural supports,” Sneed says. “WayForward’s incredible team offers pleasant experiences to both volunteers looking to transform lives and program recipients seeking resources to meet their immediate needs.”