Congregating for a Cause
Since 1971, a group of churches in Milwaukee have come together to work towards a common goal – solving hunger in the Milwaukee community. Interchange Inc. is made up of seven different churches (The Cathedral Church of All Saints, First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee, Immanuel Presbyterian Church, North Shore Presbyterian Church, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Summerfield Methodist Church and Village Church (ELCA)) that gather at least once a week to run a food pantry in the basement of Village Church at 130 E. Juneau near downtown Milwaukee.
At the Interchange Milwaukee food pantry, they serve around 1,000 people and 550 households a month, and their service area is widespread. “There are around 38 zip codes in Milwaukee County,” Pantry Director George Neureuther shared. “We serve 35 or 36 of them.”
Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin provides Interchange Inc. with a little under 200,000 pounds of food per year, with a large portion of it being fresh and frozen produce. At Interchange, providing health conscious choices for their community is extremely important. When George picks out food for the pantry, he emphasizes that he “[concentrates] on what’s healthy for our guests.”
Because of their focus on fresh and healthy food, the need for good storage is very high. With the amount of produce that Interchange receives, they needed more proper storage space to ensure their produce stays fresh until it can be given out. In August 2018, Interchange was awarded a cooler through the UHC Produce Capacity Accelerator Program that allowed them, along with other pantries that Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin serves, to physically enhance their food pantry space and their general knowledge regarding food pantries through training sessions.
Not only did Interchange receive a brand new cooler to store their fresh produce, but the idea to move and
expand their space came from the training sessions, where they were able to brainstorm ideas with other food pantries in the area. After the trainings, the pantry flipped their storage and their serving spaces and now are able to store and serve more food than ever before.
“The best thing that we do here is compassion,” George says as he watches people walk through the line, gathering food and laughing with others in the pantry. “We want them to feel better when they leave here than when they arrive.”
If you are interested in getting involved at Interchange, email George Neureuther at IFPMilwaukee@gmail.com.
