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.” 

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.”

20% of the food we receive to distribute to the community is surplus food from grocery and other retail stores.

We call these “food rescues” and they prevent food from going to waste. Volunteers quickly sort and stock surplus food that comes in for distribution in the pantry.

Last year, WayForward’s pantry received 207,682 pounds of food from these channels.

A crew of volunteers from Springs Window Fashions signed up for painting duty to give our food barrels a makeover ahead of our name change to WayForward Resources in May.

Springs has a strong history as a community partner and their role in this transition was fitting.

Some of WayForward’s donation barrels originally came from Springs — many years ago they received them with product deliveries and they later repurposed them as food barrels for company food drives.

Want to organize a food drive? Visit our drives page!

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.

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.

MOM was proud to join with Rise Wisconsin to nominate Springs Window Fashions for the 2022 Outstanding Large Business Award from AFP Greater Madison.

Springs, the second-largest global manufacturer of custom window treatments, has been part of our community since 1946. With 420 employees right here in Dane County, Springs remains fiercely dedicated to its roots in the community and is focused on giving back. The company donated over $500,000 last year alone to nonprofits as well as provided volunteer and other in-kind support.

Springs’ support for MOM dates back to 2013. In addition to generous financial donations, their support has included regular food and clothing donations, participation in our Winter Wishes program, support of the Capital Campaign, and sponsorship of events. Thanks to a $30,000 donation from Springs in 2020, MOM was able to purchase a new van to transport donations of food and clothing as well as pre-packed food deliveries. In presenting Springs with this award, AFP Madison noted that the company “approaches their philanthropic and volunteer work as listeners, ready to do whatever is needed most.”

John Weinstock, Springs Executive Vice President for Marketing, accepted the honor on Springs’ behalf at the National Philanthropy Day event. MOM is grateful to partner with Springs to create stability in our community.

The Middleton Chamber of Commerce recently featured MOM in its regular “Member Spotlight” video series. MOM Executive Director Ellen Carlson spoke with the Chamber’s Lisa Quam about the rising demand for services from our food pantry and housing assistance programs, as well as how local businesses can get involved in supporting our mission to build food security and housing stability in our community. WATCH