Eleven-year-old Elijah already knows what he wants to be when he grows up: a robotic engineer. “I want to build robots that help around the house,” he says. “So, if you need help, or your car breaks down, it’ll get fixed. Helping people makes me feel proud of myself.” Elijah, with his soft smile and [...]

Bertie, 78, has cared for others for as long as she can remember. Growing up in a family with a single mother, Bertie helped raise her four younger siblings. Times were often difficult. Bertie wishes food banks had been around to help during those lean years. “We had to take care of each other and [...]

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 [...]

Dawn has always worked and was able to afford what her family needed. She never expected to face hunger. But like so many other families, when the pandemic began, she lost her job. It didn’t take long before she couldn’t make ends meet. Dawn’s story is like so many stories here in Wisconsin of families [...]

When that final bell of the school year ends, children burst out the doors, buzzing with delight. It’s summer vacation! But for many children, there’s not much to celebrate, because summer can be synonymous with hunger. Many kids who qualify for free (or reduced-price) meals in school are suddenly facing a few months without that [...]

When Sharima, a single mother of two, first started volunteering at her local food pantry five years ago, she didn’t expect to one day need its services. She had a job, but money was still tight. “There came a time that I started classes, kids got into the teenage zone, appetites were high,” she says. [...]

More than 30 years ago, Thoupo and her family came to the United States seeking refuge from the war in Cambodia. After she emigrated, Thoupo began working in a factory. The workplace initially accommodated her disability, which requires her to sit down intermittently. But after 25 years, the factory’s policies changed and Thoupo’s chair was [...]

Holly had a good job as a manager at a fast-food restaurant. But the combination of her pregnancy and the pandemic forced her to cut back on her hours. “Thankfully, I was able to work through the pandemic,” she says. But after she had her daughter Ivy, now 6 months old, Holly didn’t go back [...]

Asking for help didn’t come easily for Mary, who spent 20 years as a nurse helping patients in pediatrics, orthopedics, and oncology. But when she was diagnosed with lung and heart disease, things suddenly changed. “It was hard to ask for help,” says Mary, 73. “I was used to helping.” She started working at [...]