Dozens of area residents spent their Valentine’s Day serving their fellow community members. On Friday, Feb. 14, Eau Claire’s Feed My People Food Bank hosted a Valentine’s Day volunteering event called Feed The Love.
The event was part of the organization’s Feed The Love campaign, an effort to increase funding for children’s programs. The two-week campaign will run through Feb. 21.
Feed My People communications manager Susie Haugley said the bank was expecting about 50 volunteers to attend throughout the day.
“Valentine’s Day is just a good time to center things around,” Haugley said. “It’s easy to think about giving to a food bank near the holidays or the end of the year, but we’re looking for support all year long. It’s a nice, refreshing way to start the new year off by making sure our kids are getting the food they need.”
On the whole, the number of volunteers working at the food bank on a regular basis is equivalent to 11 full-time employees. She said these volunteers range from individuals to groups from schools and other organizations.
(Photo by Ambrosia Wojahn)
“We try to make it as easy as possible to volunteer,” Haugley said. “We seriously need volunteers — we can’t do what we do without them.”
Haugley said people interested in volunteering can simply go to the food bank’s website and click the “volunteer” tab to sign up.
Volunteer Becky Wood, a UW-Eau Claire journalism alumnus, said she has been working with the food bank for over 15 years as a donor and began volunteering last July.
“It’s a great place to volunteer. All the volunteers are wonderful and they do a great job,” Wood said. “The people who come to get food are also fabulous. I think we have a great relationship with them.”
Haugley said the food bank serves about 75,000 people annually. Because Eau Claire is centered in a rural area, people travel from 14 surrounding counties — north through Washburn and south through Trempealeau — to utilize the resource.
Feed My People does not receive any federal funding. Haugley said the bank relies solely on grants, donations and partnerships with individuals and local organizations, including UW-Eau Claire.
“Food’s expensive, you know,” Haugley said. “The pinch that everyone’s feeling at the grocery store, we feel too.”
Haughley said the food bank does its best to diversify and localize where the food is sourced.
The food bank has a large facility that includes storage spaces, a refrigeration room, offices and even a packing room where volunteers portion out bulk foods into smaller packages. Haugley said the space was nearly doubled in 2019, just in time to house resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Haugley, Feed My People’s efforts stretch beyond the Eau Claire region. The facility also distributes food and resources to over 250 other programs and pantries across Wisconsin.
Much of the food distribution at the food bank follows a “drive-through” model, which started during the pandemic. Patrons pull up to the food bank in their cars, and volunteers load boxes of portioned goods into each vehicle. On Friday, the line of cars wrapped all the way around the food bank facility.
Wood said she has gotten to know a few of the regular patrons, including a Ukrainian family who taught her some Ukrainian greetings.
“I just love seeing that people who need food are getting food,” Wood said. “We can’t always see who’s hungry and I think this is a great service that we’re doing for the community.”
Wojahn can be reached at wojahnal7429@uwec.edu.
