April 13, 2015 at 4:40 p.m.
RAFP celebrates its 10th year
RAFP celebrates its 10th year
By Kayla Thomason-
The Rhinelander Area Food Pantry first opened its doors 10 years ago. Its first home was Rueckert's Market, now known as Nativity of Our Lord Parish Thrift Shop, on Brown Street.
"It was a little tiny space, just a couple of tables," said Jeri Lilligan, assistant and site manager at RAFP.
RAFP has continued to grow and last year the operation moved to a new facility, located at 627 Coon St., where there is more space to store goods and serve clients.
RAFP serves an average of 150 families a week, approximately 400 to 450 households a month, and over the course of 10 years has distributed almost 4 million pounds of food to people in need.
"I think the size of the building and the way it's organized (surprises the guests)," Lilligan said. "I think another thing that surprises people is the number of customers we serve."
Connie Hofman attended the open house. It was her first time at the new location.
"It's so much nicer (at the new location)," she said. "There's so much more room for things to be done and (it's) so much more organized. I think it's really helpful to the clients and the workers. (The open house) was excellent, it was really nice to see such a good thing in our community."
After touring the inside of the food pantry, guests wandered over to the brand new greenhouse where they saw green shoots representing the first crops of the year.
"People seem to be really excited about it and even the clients have been out here talking to me occasionally and looking forward to getting vegetables to plant in their own garden," said Tom Jerow, volunteer and co-chair of community garden. "This is really nice to have freshly grown (vegetables) and we deliver it right from the garden to the pantry that day so it's as fresh as it gets."
RAFP is growing peppers, tomatoes, cabbages, broccoli and brussel sprouts.
Some of the sprouts will be given to clients to plant in the ground or in planter boxes, while others will create produce to feed the clients.
"The whole idea is to promote food security with people at home," Jerow said.
The greenhouse was made possible by the Kiwanis Club of Rhinelander.
"I just want to thank the Rhinelander Kiwanis for providing the funding and the labor for building this greenhouse, it's been a great partnership with them," Jerow said.
Guests attending the open house learned about Food for the Mind, a program started in 2002 that allows children between the ages of newborn and 12, accompanied by a parent, to take a book home from the food pantry.
"We've been doing this since the conception of the food pantry and even before when it was at the Congregational Church," Pauline Doucette, Food for the Mind volunteer. "We've been really, really, really happy to see the results of what has happened with these children when they come in and pick a book and take it home."
Children can take a book anytime they come in with their parents.
"Statistics have proven that kids that have books in their hands before they go to school are better students," Doucette said.
During Christmas and Easter the children get new books to choose from. This past Christmas they gave out 200 books and at Easter they gave out 135 books.
This program is available in at least 12 food pantries in northern Wisconsin.
The Rhinelander Area Food Pantry is operated primarily by volunteers.
"These (volunteers) are people that are very faithful, very consistent and if they can't be here they let us know and there's always somebody that's going to step up and take their place," Lilligan said.
Nearly all volunteers have a backup person to call.
"Everybody that works here is easy to get along with. Jane (Motowski, general manager for RAFP) sets a good attitude, is very open, very friendly, very accepting," said Guy Hansen, executive director of the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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