Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin Celebrates Potato Donation
Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association Donation just in time for Thanksgiving
What: Potato Bar and Distribution of Potatoes
When: Monday, November 16, 9:30 a.m.
Where: Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, 1700 W. Fond du Lac Avenue, Milwaukee
Who: Duane Maatz and Tim Feit, Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association, Mike Finnessy from Okray Family Farms, Heidi Randall and Rick Kantner from Alsum Produce, Inc.
Why: To distribute potatoes for Thanksgiving
Milwaukee, WI – Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin is excited to announce a donation of over 120,000 pounds of potatoes from the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association just in time for Thanksgiving. Dean Kincaid, Inc., Palmyra; Alsum Produce, Inc., Friesland; and Okray Family Farms, Plover, all members of the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association, are making this generous donation possible.
The potatoes will be made available to the food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters feeding the hungry in eastern Wisconsin on Monday, November 16 at 9:30 a.m. In addition, the volunteers who run these programs are invited to join us for a potato bar in our lobby.
“This donation couldn’t have come at a better time with Thanksgiving just a week and a half away. The downturn in the economy and rise in unemployment has increased demand for food from the food bank by 30%. Many of the emergency feeding programs we provide food to are serving double the number of people they typically serve,” said Bonnie J. Bellehumeur, president of Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin.
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Each year 235,000 people in Wisconsin rely on food supplied by Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, formerly named America’s Second Harvest of Wisconsin. The food bank is the largest, private, non-profit distributor of food in the state. Feeding America Food Bank distributes nearly 12 million pounds of food annually to 1,100 food pantries, meal programs and shelters throughout the state. Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin is affiliated with Feeding America which is consistently ranked as one of the most efficient charities, out of the country’s 100 largest charities, by Forbes magazine. Since 1982, Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin has distributed more than 250 million pounds of food. To learn more about hunger in Wisconsin, log onto www.feedingamericawi.org.
