Food Pantry of Waukesha County sees record demand

Dec. 09, 2009

By Laurel Walker of the Journal Sentinel

Dec. 09, 2009 0

Waukesha - The nonprofit Food Pantry of Waukesha County has never seen a higher demand for services in its 31-year history than it did in the past year, Executive Director Karen Tredwell said this week.

And if that isn't worrisome enough, she said, the coming year looks just as bleak with a record set in November for individuals seeking help.

In the fiscal year that ended with September, the Food Pantry saw a 9.2% increase in demand for services and an average of 6,169 individual requests for food each month. About 74,000 times during the year, individuals obtained supplemental groceries and personal products from the agency, she said.

In November, an all-time high of 7,242 requests were made by individuals arriving at the pantry for help, Tredwell said.

The pantry relies on many different organizations and individuals for food donations. One such group, the focus of a Journal Sentinel column last year,will be back at it this Saturday in the Tall Grass, Rolling Ridge and Meadowbrook subdivisions on Waukesha's west side this Saturday.

A group of families sharing a Thanksgiving meal eight years ago decided to begin the annual food drive after recognizing how fortunate they were. Last year, the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Food & Fund Drive collected nine full pallets of nonperishable food and more about $3,700 in cash for the cause.

Residents of those subdivisions are asked to leave nonperishable food items on their porch or at the end of driveways Saturday for collection, which will run from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

About Laurel Walker

Laurel Walker covered local, school and county government for 20 years -- the last half of that at the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- before she was named Waukesha County columnist in 1997. Today she writes about the people, places and events around metropolitan Milwaukee with a broad suburban focus. She was the youngest of nine children raised on a central Wisconsin farm before leaving the nest for journalism studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a masters degree at the University of Oregon. She has spent the last half of her life in Waukesha County, where she and her husband raised two sons. Though she has a fondness for life in Waukesha, she eagerly partakes in the culture of the big city to the east and the recreation of the forests to the west. With sons in the arts, she has a special fondness for symphonic music concerts and art museums. She finds peace in a good book at a Northwoods getaway weekend, adventure in family visits to the east and west coasts, and satisfaction in a column well-written that reaches readers.