It Takes a Village to End Hunger
Mark Gierach recognized a need in his community and did something about it.
In his former role as youth minister at Parkside Community Church in Saukville, WI, Mark often took students on mission trips, traveling to churches across the United States. He noticed how well these churches responded to hunger in their neighborhoods through their food pantries. One question kept emerging among Mark and his students: “Why don’t we?”
That’s when Mark decided he was up for the challenge. “Why don’t we start a food pantry for our community?”
Saukville Community Pantry opened their doors in January of 2012. With a couple of card tables and a few boxes of canned goods, they served 23 families that first month. They now serve more than 420 families every month.
As the need in the community continued to be recognized, Saukville Community Pantry continued to grow. “We’ve grown in many different respects,” Mark explains. “It’s not just the number of people that are coming through the pantry itself, but it’s about the number of programs we’ve injected into the overall mission.”While the pantry is open twice a week, they also provide a free community “hot meal” site twice a month. Working with the local school districts, they are able to send food home with kids for the weekend and provide school supplies to children when needed. From April through October, they host several mobile food pantries in collaboration with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin. In the colder months, coats of all sizes are available for anyone who needs to stay warm.
Like so many of Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin’s pantry partners, Saukville Community Pantry started in one small room of a church basement. “But I didn’t want this to be sponsored by just one church,” adds Mark. “I made sure it was going to be a community effort.”
Getting connected to groups throughout the county has been a crucial part of expanding the pantry’s reach. The Rotary Club, Lions Club, Salvation Army, YMCA, and various local businesses and churches are just a few of the organizations that are more than willing to do their part. This collective effort brings the saying “it takes a village” to reality.
We all have a part to play in the villages and communities we call home.
If you are wondering where you fit in, start by browsing through our Get Involved page here. You will find information about volunteering, donating, and advocating to end hunger.
