THE RIVER FOOD PANTRY
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Mission Statement
Building upon a foundation of community-organized dinners and a small emergency pantry on Madison’s north side, The River officially opened in 2006. The River is dedicated to alleviating hunger and creating a stronger community for all, with a focus on addressing food insecurity among low-income and underserved communities. Over time, The River has expanded its services to improve access to fresh, nutritious food to people throughout Dane County while supporting sustainable food systems. Originally serving only a handful of households, today The River is South Central Wisconsin’s busiest food pantry, serving well over 2,000 people each week through a network of free, mutually-supportive programs. In 2021, we served over 11,000 unique individuals through more than 182,500 visits to our combined programs.
About This Cause
The River helps people overcome barriers to food access and nutrition through a network of free, mutually-supportive programs. These programs are founded upon the goals of 1) expanding reliable access to groceries and meals, 2) improving the nutritional value of food available to those with limited means, 3) offering respect by preserving people’s dignity and choices while fulfilling key needs, and 4) promoting sustainability while minimizing waste. Our programs work together to maximize the number of people The River can serve while maintaining the ability to tailor operations to better meet complex needs. The River’s services include the distribution of weekly grocery orders via on-site collection and delivery, providing freshly-prepared meals for families to eat at home, an online ordering system designed to expand clients’ choices and access to special dietary items, a mobile meals program delivering healthy meals to children and adults in 19 neighborhoods, and a streamlined Saturday pantry with minimal registration requirements. We also operate an extensive food recovery program, volunteer-managed garden, and food redistribution partnerships with 17 local community organizations. The value of this multifaceted approach is perhaps best illustrated through a brief example. Consider a family of five choosing items for a weekly grocery order from The River. This order will likely include several components rescued by our food recovery program. Since the parents have limited time to cook meals at home, they also accept freshly-prepared FAM meals for each family member, including a vegetarian meal for their daughter. The father has recently been diagnosed as diabetic, so this month they supplement their regular grocery orders with foods from The River’s online pantry that support the diet recommended by his physician. Next, with their car in the shop this week the family is unable to come to the pantry, so The River delivers these groceries and meals directly to their home. Finally, it is summer break and school cafeterias are closed—eliminating an important source of reliable meals for the kids. However, the family has learned the Munch van visits their neighborhood. Thus, the children can pick-up nutritious lunches throughout the week, some of which are made with fresh vegetables from The River’s garden. By coordinating programs in this way, The River creates a more comprehensive safety net for its clients that will equip them with a stable foundation for economic advancement and other successes. Given the complexity of factors that commonly contribute to food insecurity, no one program is capable of addressing all client needs. Through tailoring programs to address specific challenges (such as transportation, limited cooking time, special medical or cultural needs, etc.), and by ensuring that these programs then work in concert with one another, The River more fully addresses individual households’ needs while still efficiently serving county residents at a larger scale. When combined with the adaptability of individual programs, this model offers a means to continuously adjust The River’s operations to improve community outcomes. More detailed descriptions of The River's current services follows: 1. Curbside Grocery Pickup: Weekly grocery orders are distributed curbside at The River’s location on Madison’s north side, which is near multiple neighborhoods designated as Food Access Focus Areas. Prepared bags that include a variety of groceries, including perishable and non-perishable foods, are available for pickup Tuesday–Friday. The River also offers a list of 10–15 items that clients can opt to receive in addition to pre-packed bags, as well as a “farmers-market” style selection of fresh produce and bread. Each household takes home an average of nearly 100 pounds of food and other essential items (diapers, hygiene products, etc.) per visit. Items such as baby formula and gluten-free options are available upon request. Curbside Groceries fulfilled 25,502 orders for households in 2021. 2. River Delivers: The River offers a delivery service for groceries and meals in order to reach those who are homebound or cannot otherwise access pantry services. Deliveries are provided up to once a week and include groceries and other essential items (similar to curbside pickup), upon request. The River delivered 7,518 grocery orders in 2021. 3. ePantry: In 2021, the pantry launched an online ordering platform that centers client choice and expands the availability of foods less commonly provided by food assistance programs. Once a month, clients can select from approximately 150 choices of perishable and non-perishable items, at least 25% of which are culturally-inclusive or medically-recommended foods. Despite not launching until August, ePantry fulfilled 592 grocery orders in 2021. 4. Family At-Home Meals: A curbside meal program that provides to-go meals for everyone in a household to enjoy at home. Clients can collect meals up to four times each week. These healthy, balanced meals are freshly made by The River’s professionally trained chefs and volunteers. The menu is updated weekly and includes both meat and vegetarian options, along with a side salad and fresh fruit. FAM served 58,675 meals in 2021. 5. Munch: A mobile meals program that delivers healthy meals to children and adults in low-income and underserved communities in Madison and Fitchburg. Munch currently serves 19 neighborhoods that are home to large populations of public-school students eligible for free school lunches. While school is in session Munch operates 3 days per week, increasing to 6 days per week anytime school cafeterias are closed. Munch served 33,309 meals in 2021. 6. Pantry Express: In June 2022, The River launched a streamlined pantry service on Saturdays to help cover the gap in food access some households experience over the weekend when many pantries are closed. This service seeks to maximize access by eliminating registration barriers that prevent some households from utilizing food assistance programs due to concerns about providing personal information. These concerns can stem from a range of issues such as clients’ immigration status or circumstances of domestic violence. To date, Pantry Express has fulfilled 1,455 orders. 7. Redistribution Partnerships: The River collaborates with 17 local organizations to increase food access while reducing waste. As an authorized food redistribution organization, The River provides local partners with food from Second Harvest Foodbank and our own food recovery program. This allows us to assist more people with the supplies we collect, while also improving assistance to vulnerable populations. Many of our partners specialize in reaching marginalized or vulnerable demographics, including people experiencing homelessness, seniors and others requiring assisted-living accommodations, at-risk youth, LGBTQ communities, and those coping with mental health or addiction issues. Food distribution operations are in turn supported by our extensive food recovery operation, which promotes sustainability by rescuing food and essentials, that would otherwise go to waste, from over 50 local retailers each week. In 2021 alone, this program rescued 1.6 million pounds of food--equivalent to weight of approximately 40 Madison fire engines! In the summer and fall, The River’s volunteer-managed garden helps supply fresh vegetables for groceries and meals.