By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
With the help of a Food Initiative Grant from the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee, the Walworth County Food and Diaper Bank is getting a chance to better serve the community.
With the grant, the WCFDB has a new, 26-foot refrigerated box truck, which is valued at more than $150,000. The truck arrived Feb. 20.
Already, the food pantry has used the truck to make runs to Milwaukee to pick up additional food to distribute in Walworth County, including a trip March 6 to pick up chicken links, bacon ends, carrots and applesauce.
Tammy Dunn, the WCFDB executive director who started in August of last year, said the grant request pre-dated her time at the non-profit.
She said she got a phone call in February from the Hunger Task Force, saying, “the grant you applied for a few years ago has finally been awarded.”
And, Dunn added, in addition to the truck, they told her, “we’re going to cover all the licensing fees and registration, too.”
Dunn said the truck has helped bring additional resources to the area.
“(We can) pick up food that’s available to us last minute from southern Wisconsin,” she said. “Places in Milwaukee, places out toward Kenosha. It allows us to pick up and distribute food for all of the other pantries in Walworth County, if they need the help.”
Dunn said the truck will be especially important come summer, when the pantry used to have to transport food using cold blankets vs. refrigeration.
“This just opens up the door to bringing more food, especially frozen meats, to our community,” she explained.
One thing the WCFDB could use, however, is drivers for the new truck. Those qualified and interested in helping are asked to contact Dunn at 262-723-4488.
