Rising food costs hurt both Fond du Lac food pantries and already-struggling families | Stock the Shelves

FOND DU LAC – Temperatures are dropping in Fond du Lac, but prices are not.

Though COVID-19 cases in Fond du Lac dropped significantly this year, the effects of the pandemic are still rippling through the area in the form of rising product costs and supply chain issues, digging a deeper hole for people and families that were already struggling to afford meals.

In Fond du Lac County, 7,807 people are food insecure, at a food insecurity rate of 7.7%, according to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin. The food insecurity rate for children, meanwhile, is 13%, or about 2,870 food insecure children.

Many more county residents are eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or SNAP benefits — about 65% overall. However, 72% of children are eligible for SNAP benefits.

Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin distributed 501,790 pounds of food, including 152,725 pieces of produce, to its six Fond du Lac partners. The average meal cost for the county comes to $3.34, which is higher than both the state average of $3.13 and last year's price: $2.98.

Many food pantries, whether through local churches or nondenominational affiliations, do their best to offer balanced and nutritious meals — not just processed box meals — and the generosity of community members, volunteers and local businesses is vital to keeping the pantries and their programs running.

Fondy Food Pantry, for instance, provides fresh produce and education on healthy choices in both their regular distribution and their Food For Thought program, which supports area students that are not getting enough to eat on weekends and school holidays.

Last school year, the pantry distributed 91,285 pounds of food items for the program in 23,851 hand-filled bags. The program feeds around 1,000 school-aged children per week, and recently added Eden and Campbellsport schools, according to the pantry’s Facebook page.

However, Food for Thought is not immune to rising costs of food and other products. 

In 2021, the average cost of one bag — which lasts a weekend —  was $4.25, so the program cost the pantry $4,250 a week and $161,500 for the school year. Now, the cost has risen by 34%, increasing the average cost to $5.70 per bag, a rate that leaves the pantry struggling to absorb the cost.

Several other pantries in the area have their own unique programs to nourish and support residents that are struggling.

During the summer, Salvation Army of Fond du Lac’s pantry feeds children with the Summer Brown Bag Lunch program, and the regular, year-round pantry provides monthly packages of not only food, but also personal care items.

Lighthouse Christian Church Food Pantry offers bread and other baked goods from places like Panera and Kwik Trip, alongside their distribution of boxed food and frozen meat.

All three of these Fond du Lac pantries will benefit from The Reporter's Stock the Shelves fundraiser with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, which runs through October. Community Food Pantry in Ripon will also benefit, along with two Fond du Lac addiction recovery houses: Beacon House and Blandine House.

Stock the Shelves is an annual campaign by the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin in partnership with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin that encourages readers to donate money to help fight hunger in their local communities.

Want to help? Stock the Shelves donation window is open during October

Last year, thanks to the generosity of readers, more than $163,000 was raised through the Stock the Shelves campaign, providing more than 652,000 meals to those in need in communities served by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.

Stock the Shelves aims to help those in need in the communities served by the following Wisconsin newspapers: Fond du Lac Reporter, Appleton Post-Crescent, Green Bay Press-Gazette, Oshkosh Northwestern, Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter, Sheboygan Press, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wausau Daily Herald, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Marshfield News Herald, Stevens Point Journal, Door County Advocate, Oconto County Reporter and Kewaunee County Star-News. Donations will help support the community in which the donor resides.

Checks should be made payable to Feeding American Eastern Wisconsin, ATTN: Stock the Shelves, and mailed to 2911 W. Evergreen Drive, Appleton WI 54913. Enclose alongside your contribution the donor’s address with city, state and ZIP code for internal processing, a notation of whether the donation should remain anonymous, whether the donation is in the memory of someone special, and the donor’s name as it should appear in the thank-you advertisement to be published in the Thanksgiving edition of USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin’s daily newspapers.

To donate online, visit feedingamericawi.org/stocktheshelvesdonate.

These local pantries can benefit from Stock the Shelves

Fond du Lac area food pantries that partner with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin include:

• Fondy Food Pantry, 573 W. Rolling Meadows Drive, Fond du Lac, is open 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Mondays; 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays; and 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursdays. Proof of identification and residency required on first visit. For more information, call 920-322-0369 or visit fondyfoodpantry.org.
• Lighthouse Christian Church Pantry, 401 S. National Ave., Fond du Lac, is open by appointment 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Photo ID and proof of residency required. Bread and baked goods are available for all without appointment. For more information, call 920-921-3477.
• Salvation Army Fond du Lac, 237 N. Macy St., Fond du Lac, opens its pantry from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call 920-923-8220.
• Beacon House, 166 S. Park Ave., Fond du Lac, benefits women residents in the addiction recovery house. For more information, call 920-923-3999.
• Blandine House, 25 N. Park Ave., Fond du Lac, benefits male residents in the addiction recovery house. For more information, call 920-922-9487.
• Community Food Pantry, inside Traded Treasures, 102 W. Jackson St., Ripon, is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the first four Mondays of each month and 6 to 7 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Photo ID and proof of residency required, and pick-ups are monthly. For more information, call 920-748-5756.
• Waupun Area Food Pantry, 12 S. Mill St., is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays and 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Thursdays for residents in the Waupun Area School District area. Photo ID and proof of residency required. For more information, call 920-324-4000.
• Mayville Food Pantry, inside Christian Life Fellowship Church, 113 N. Clark St., is open 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. every other Tuesday for Mayville-area residents in need. For more information, call 920-210-1098.

Contact Daphne Lemke at dlemke@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @daphlemke.