Last June, we shared a message with you: for the first time in our over forty-year history, we weren’t sure we could meet the need for food in our community. WayForward had led the effort to bring together 36 food pantries from across Dane County to write a letter to the community, which began with, “Dane County, we need your help.” We wrote that food pantries across the county were experiencing drastic increases in demand for food. In just two years, visits to WayForward’s food pantry tripled—and we were struggling to keep up. The letter ran in the Wisconsin State Journal and was read on the steps of the Capitol at a press conference. You responded with immediate generosity. With this increased support, we were able to purchase more food so that guests coming to get food saw choices instead of empty shelves.

What has happened in the year since our letter to the community? Last year, we told you we didn’t expect this increased need for food to go away quickly–and it hasn’t. Two years ago, we gave out over 1.6 million pounds of food—a large jump from the year before. The rise was driven by a growing population, food inflation, and, most importantly, higher rent prices that require people to devote more of their limited income toward rent in order to avoid eviction. Last year, the number of pounds we gave out inched up a little more—setting another record for WayForward. However, this number doesn’t fully represent the increased pressure we felt this year.

Last year, more people came to WayForward than ever before—and they came more frequently. We had, on average, 120 more unique households coming to the food pantry each month. To meet this large increase in visits with only a small increase in food, we have limits in place to stretch our food further. Thanks to your continued support, we’ve never had to turn anyone away—and we’re proud of that. But unfortunately, people are taking on average less food than they did before because less food is available.

There have also been significant changes in how we get food. As demand has increased throughout the county and beyond, our traditional sources of free and reduced-priced food have also struggled to keep up, meaning there are fewer options and smaller amounts of this free and reduced-price food available. To make sure we have a variety of food on our shelves, we must purchase more food—and the food we purchase is more expensive. Last year, we purchased 63% more pounds than just the year before. Combining this with the higher prices means our food purchasing budget has increased drastically—going up more than sixfold in just five years.  

What lies ahead next year? We feel encouraged by the increased conversations about housing across Dane County, but we know price relief is not coming in the immediate future. What may be coming in the immediate future, though, is drastic cuts to other food assistance programs. At the time of this writing, the House of Representatives advanced a reconciliation bill that would cut SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) by about 30 percent, nearly $300 billion, over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Nearly 8% of people in Dane County use SNAP to meet their nutritional needs. Without some drastic changes to how systems operate, food pantries would not be able to bridge this gap.  

What do all these numbers mean, and what can we do about it? These numbers mean making sure our neighbors have access to nutritious food has never been more challenging. And it means your support is more important than ever. We continue to think creatively about how we can get food to people—and we continue to rely on our community to help us. While we had a record-breaking year in demand for our services last year, it was also a record-breaking year in community support. When we see the Middleton Meals Matter high school students standing outside in the freezing cold at the grocery store collecting food donations for us or when we have donors tell us they see the challenges and are increasing their gift to help us meet them, we feel hope that together we can continue to create stability despite the obstacles. Thank you for making our work possible.

Photo Above: Middleton Meals Matter and Middleton Kiwanis volunteers with the food they collected from a community drive this winter for WayForward Resources pantry.