Source: Aaron Doucett - UNSPLASH
Jan 18, 2024, 2:15 PM CST
MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – Dane County officials announced Thursday that they intend to give the Extended Hands Food Pantry in Madison a $425,000 grant to help address food insecurity in Madison.
The nonprofit Extended Hands Food Pantry is a faith-based organization that helps to provide culturally appropriate food to families in need. They also provide tutoring for children in low-income families around Dane County.
Andy Czerkas is the Executive Director of the Extended Hands Food Pantry. Before that, he had started The River Food Pantry in 2005. Because they are stationed at The Lighthouse church and school, which provides bilingual services, he says that most of their shoppers are hispanic, and thus they try to provide culturally relevant and appropriate foods for them.
“Lots of beans and rice,” Czerkas says. “Lots of different kinds of beans out there that people would eat from Mexico down to South America. Everybody eats something different, it’s a very big area, so lots of things to keep in mind.”
Extended Hands doesn’t just serve hispanic families, though. Czerkas says that they provide for immigrants from across the whole world, from North Africa and the Middle East, to Haitians, to Eastern Europeans. He adds that about 40% of the people who use the pantry come from outside of Madison, because of the type of food they provide.
While it is more difficult to find culturally appropriate food for everyone, Czerkas says, it is important. He says they are working to find better sources to purchase food through wholesalers both here in Madison and in the Milwaukee area.
“Every Dane County resident deserves access to healthy, nutritious food, no matter their economic circumstances,” said County Executive Joe Parisi in a press release. “This grant will expand Extended Hands Food Pantry’s reach to even more Dane County residents. We appreciate the hard work Extended Hands carries out to support our community, and look forward to seeing the positive impact this grant will have on those who are struggling to put food on the table.”
Czerkas says that the money can’t come soon enough, and that they’ve already planned out how they intend to spend most of the money. The first purchase? A new semi-truck to haul food from their warehouse to the pantry. He says that the truck they have now is old and beginning to break down, so getting a new truck will be their main priority.
Czerkas also says that they will be upgrading the overall infrastructure of their warehouse, installing a new walk-in cooler at the pantry, and upgrading the lighting at the pantry.
The funding can’t come soon enough for Extending Hands, Czerkas says. Since the pandemic, he says that he’s seen an exponential increase in the number of people using their pantry.
“From 2022 to 2023, we grew 117% in terms of attendance,” Czerkas says. “The amount of food distributed, and the costs associated with it, have gone up 80%. It’s a big increase.”
Czerkas says that the increased need at the pantry has grown since the pandemic, and grows more and more every year. He says that, on a daily basis, they serve between 130 and 170 families in just four hours.
The Extended Hand Food Pantry is open Monday and Tuesday from 2:00-6:00, Fridays from 10:00-1:00, and the last Saturday of every month from 10:00-12:00.
The funding to give Extended Hands was included in the county’s 2024 budget last November. A resolution to officially send the grant will be introduced to the county board at their meeting Thursday night, and is expected to be approved in the coming weeks.
