Greenfield Area Food Pantries Need Your Donations

Times might be tough, but no one needs to go hungry thanks to these area food pantries and food collection programs.

Greenfield Patch has put together this guide to food pantries in the Greenfield area.

If we missed a food pantry, include it in the comments below and we’ll be sure to add it to the guide.

Good Samaritan Outreach Center

Since 1958, the center has offered food, clothes and household goods to needy area residents. Staffed with about 30 volunteers, primarily by retirees, the shelter is supported with donations from neighbors and area churches, including Mount Hope Lutheran Church at 8633 W. Beecher St.

Where: Good Samaritan Outreach Center, 5924 West Burnham St., in West Allis

When: The center is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Donations are also accepted during those hours.

What is needed: Food, clothes, household goods, paper and plastic bags, money

To help: Call (414) 541-7668

New Berlin Food Pantry

The New Berlin Women’s Club started this pantry more than 20 years ago. Today, located in the old public library building, the pantry serves residents in Brookfield, Elm Grove, Muskego and New Berlin.

Where: 14750 W. Cleveland Ave., New Berlin

When: Open Wednesdays only; donations can be dropped off from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; food is available from 12 to 5:15 p.m.; for emergencies only, call (262) 679-3068

What is needed: money and food donations, volunteers

How to help: Call (262) 789-8040

Umos Food Pantry

The United Migrant Opportunity Services Food Pantry serves an estimated 1,000 Milwaukee area families each month. Volunteers come from the New Hope Project, as well as through W2, food stamp and community service programs.

Where: 2701 S Chase Ave., Milwaukee

When: food available from 1 to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday; donations can be dropped off from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

What is needed: money and food donations, new and unused plastic or paper bags

To help: Call (414) 389-6300 or online www.umos.org/donations/donations_food-pantries.html

Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin

(Formerly America’s Second Harvest of Wisconsin)

The Rotary Club in Milwaukee started Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin Food Bank in 1982 with a single bushel of apples. That donation has grown to more than 250 million pounds of food distributed at warehouses in Milwaukee and the Fox Valley.

The Milwaukee Center provides food for nearly 800 non-profit programs in nine counties. But, combined, the warehouse here and in the Appleton area distribute more than 15 million pounds of food a year to more than 1,100 pantries, meal programs and other non-profit agencies in Wisconsin, serving an estimated 330,000 people in eastern Wisconsin.

Where: 1700 West Fond Du Lac Ave., Milwaukee

When: Food is distributed through other area pantries, meal programs and soup kitchens.

What is needed: Money and food donations, especially canned and dry goods; volunteers

To help: Call (414) 931-7400 or online www.feedingamericawi.org/help

St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry

Many people know about St. Vincent de Paul thrift stores, where you can find used clothing, household items, furniture and appliances – all for a good cause. But did you know about the SVDP food pantry? Members of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church help maintain the pantry, which was once housed at the church.

Where: Bethany House, 6031 W. National Ave., West Allis

When: second, third and fourth Saturday of the month, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.; last Wednesday of the month, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

What is needed: Non-perishable food and cleaning and serving supplies, including canned goods, cereal, baby food, powdered drink mixes, salt and pepper, napkins, and silverware; every August, school supplies are needed for distribution throughout the area

To help: Call (414) 453-5192.

Hunger Task Force

The Hunger Task Force supports food pantries and meal programs throughout the Milwaukee area. Listings for food pantries are available online and through a phone hotline. Food vouchers and meal programs also are available for area seniors.

How to Get Food: Dial 211, get vouchers or have food delivered

If you or someone you know needs emergency food, help is just a phone call away. 

An operator can help you find the nearest emergency food pantries and meal programs, as well as other emergency social services in the community.

From a cell phone or pay phone: Dial 211

From any other phone: Dial (414) 773-0211 or toll-free (866) 211-3380.

You also can find food sites online at www.referweb.net/ipct. For more information, visit www.impactinc.org.

Farmers market vouchers available

Senior farmers market vouchers also available during the summer. For more information, visit www.hungertaskforce.org/food-bank/how-to-get-food/senior-farmers-market-vouchers.

Help delivered with Stockbox program for seniors

You or someone you know could qualify for the monthly Stockbox program, which offers free pre-packaged boxes of food to low-income senior housing sites and senior centers through the Hunger Task Force.

Boxes are delivered and include cheese, juice, cereal, peanut butter, and canned fruits, vegetables, meats and milk, among other items to help complete meals.

To qualify, you must be at least 60 years old and meet monthly income requirements (below $1,180 for a single person; $1,593 for two people, etc.) 

Where: City of Greenfield, Parks and Recreation office, 7325 W. Forest Home.

When: 2 to 3 p.m., first Thursday of the month

Call: (866) 211-3380 from a cell phone, or 211 from a landline phone

Online: www.hungertaskforce.org/food-bank/how-to-get-food/stockbox

Other area sites include Wilson Park Senior Center in Milwaukee, Oasis in West Milwaukee and West Allis Senior Center in West Allis. Sites also are available in Ozaukee, Racine, Kenosha, Waukesha and Washington counties.

How to Help: Cash, food drives and volunteers

Money buys food!

To donate online, visit www.hungertaskforce.org/donate/donate-money. You can give once or set up a monthly donation, whatever fits your budget.

To send a check, make it out to Hunger Task Force and mail it to 201 S. Hawley Court, Milwaukee, WI 53214.

Stock options also are available. The task force can take your stocks, liquidate them and use the money to buy food. For more information, go to www.hungertaskforce.org/donate/gifts-of-stock.

And you can always remember the task force in your will. Click here for more information, www.hungertaskforce.org/donate/planned-giving.

Food drives help!

Food donations are needed every day, all year – not just around the holidays. Next time you’re tempted to drop a can of corn in a food drive barrel, think about coordinating a food drive yourself.

Ask for a barrel at the office and make it a competition between marketing and media services! Get a barrel at school and see how much each grade can collect! Or get your neighborhood association, church or gym involved!

For details, check out www.hungertaskforce.org/signature-programs/food-for-families.

Volunteers needed!

Once people send money and collect food, someone needs to sort it at the warehouse. Other volunteers help at a pantry or soup kitchen, even around the Hunger Task Force office.

To see how you can help, click here: www.hungertaskforce.org/volunteer

Help the farm!

Did you know the Hunger Task Force has a 150-acre farm in Franklin? It opened in 2004 and produces over 300,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables every year, which is delivered for free to hungry people in Milwaukee. The farm also functions as an environmental reserve, with a 25-acre tree nursery and more than 5,300 trees planted; a fish hatchery, with more than 40,000 bluegills, walleye, perch and trout; and nine beehives, which produce more than 100 pounds of honey every year.

Like any farm, this one needs equipment. To see what they need, check out the farm’s Wish List at www.hungertaskforce.org/food-bank/the-farm/farm-wish-list.