Food Pantry seals deal for a home it can call its own

The Saukville Community Food Pantry, which has expanded its operations every year since it opened in 2012, last week purchased the former Tri-Par headquarters at the corner of South Main Street and Green Bay Avenue for its new home.

The building — the first owned by the organization — will allow the pantry to expand its operations now and into the foreseeable future,

“It was a good day,” Sara Pashak, president of the pantry’s board of directors, said. “It’s just step one, but it’s a big step.”

The pantry purchased the building via a land contract from the Gall family, which operated Tri-Par gas stations for decades, on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

The pantry, which serves clients from throughout the area and operates out of about 6,000 square feet in the basement of Parkside Community Church, has been looking for a new home for some time.

While the pantry has been doing well serving its clients, space has become an issue as it expands not only the clientele it serves but the programs it offers.

When the pantry opened in August 2012, it served 23 families. In November 2022, it served 600 families.

The highest number of people served by the pantry was 699 in August 2022.

“It’s not just a food pantry,” Executive Director Mark Gierach said. “While the number of people coming in to the food pantry continues to increase, so too have the number of programs.”

He noted that the pantry holds community meals twice each month that attract 70 to 80 people, has a “grab and go” program offering weekend meals to students in the Port Washington-Saukville School District, provides home delivery for homebound clients, runs a mobile food pantry from April through October, provides holiday food boxes and provides school supplies at the beginning of each school year.

“We’re serving more people than we ever served in the county,” Pashak said, adding that not every client visits regularly. Some people need help occasionally, while others are regular clients.

The new building has roughly 15,000 square feet, allowing the organization to not only create a large pantry that feels like a grocery store but also a spacious room to host its community dinners and a storage space to support those uses, Pashak said.

The building will be more accessible to clients and volunteers, many of whom are older adults, since it has ground-floor access, she noted, adding that a loading dock will help the pantry receive the food it distributes to clients.

Food Pantry volunteers are already working on the building, investing sweat equity in renovating the office area by painting, replacing the flooring and other items.

“Things we’re able to do on our own,” Gierach said.

The pantry is also getting bids for larger projects volunteers can’t handle on their own, such as work on the roof and heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, Pashak said.

Major renovations are expected to begin in earnest in late spring or early summer, Gierach said, and continue through the end of the year.

“Our hopes are to be in the building in January 2024,” he said. “It could be sooner, it could be later. It will depend on when we can get a contractor. It will depend on supply chain factors. And part of it will depend on how fast donations come in.”

“The timeline is aggressive,” Pashak said.

The fundraising goal is $1.25 million to finance the purchase and renovation of the building, Gierach said, and the group is about halfway there.

“We’re in the fundraising mode and will probably be until the end of the year,” he said.

Most of the money raised so far has come from foundations and corporate donations, he said.

“Our main focus in the beginning was to get the larger donations,” he said.

The pantry hopes to raise a significant amount of money at its gala on March 4 at the Ozaukee Nonprofit Center in Grafton, and early this summer it is expected to run a community campaign, Pashak said.

The keynote speaker at the gala will be Maureen Fitzgerald of Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, and there will be a silent auction, wine pull, cash raffle and a fund-a-need auction during which those attending will be able to donate funds for specific items needed in the new building, such as a desk. Port Washington State Bank will match the first $5,000 raised through this auction, Pashak said.

Tickets are $125 and may be purchased online  at saukvillefoodpantry.org/ways-to-support/gala/.

Pashak said the response to the pantry’s fundraising has been heartfelt.

“People are so receptive and ready to help,” she said. “People will say, ‘I had no idea of the need.’ Once they learn this is happening in their neighborhood, they said, How can I help?’”