New pantry partner helping Hunger Task Force serve hometown families this holiday season

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Hunger Task Force is helping hometown families prepare for the holidays. The organization handed out more than 1,000 turkeys to dozens of partners in its network Friday, Nov. 15 -- something they do annually -- and thanks to you, this past Friday, we were able to collect more than 500 frozen turkeys and 22,000 pounds of food for Hunger Task Force during our annual Drive-Thru Food Drive.

This year, a new pantry partner on W. Brown Deer Road is joining the fight against hunger in Milwaukee. 

"This is a time of really high need. We've seen a 30% increase in visits to our food pantry network compared to the same time last year," said Matt King, Hunger Task Force CEO. King says they've served more than 50,000 people across all their programs in just the last month.

Friday, Nov. 15, the organization distributed more than 1,000 Thanksgiving turkeys and other food items to more than 60 food pantries and meal programs. "We're really proud to be part of a community that cares and part of a community that wants to look out for each other," said King.

The goal is to ensure families and seniors can enjoy a holiday meal.

"It's a time families can get together, unwind, decompress and just be able to show love and gratitude of each and every one of them," said Sen-Soray Erving from Resources and Beyond, new pantry partner.

Resources and Beyond was one of 60 Hunger Task Force partners to pick up holiday meals that will be distributed across the community this season.

Erving says partnering with the Hunger Task Force has been a big help to those they serve.

"Our food pantry is located at 8700 W. Brown Deer Road, and we service the ZIP codes 53223, 53224, 53225," Erving said. 

There are dozens of other partners within the Hunger Task Force network who are also making a difference. Employees from Zurn Elkay Water Solutions regularly lend their time to Hunger Task Force. 

Our company is a proud partner with HTF all year round. We love to come here and help with stock box. We love to go to the farm and help out there, but this time of year, November is especially special for us because its Turkey Ticker season and we are the proud sponsor of the Turkey Ticker month. And so one of the things we like to do is to come here and help distribute the Thanksgiving meals to the food pantries when they come through," said Jennifer Clearwater, community and public affair manager for Zurn Elkay.

If you'd like to help families, click here.