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Second Harvest of Wisconsin Marks 25 Years of Feeding the Hungry with a Celebration of Service

200,000,000 Meals Distributed in 25 Years

Pictured (L to R):  Dave Yanda, Lakeside's President and COO; Bonnie J. Bellehumeur, President of America’s Second Harvest of Wisconsin, and Semi Driver Mark Armstrong from Lakeside's Belgium, WI facility.

Milwaukee, WI- America's Second Harvest of Wisconsin marked 25 years of service to the community with a Celebration of Service on Friday, October 26, 2007 at Second Harvest, 1700 W.Fond du Lac Avenue, Milwaukee. The celebration honored 25 of our partner feeding programs that work in the soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters, feeding those in need. 'Without our partner feeding programs, we wouldn't be able to distribute food to the hungry. We are thankful for their commitment to the less fortunate of our community. Together, we are feeding Wisconsin's hungry,' said Bonnie J. Bellehumeur, president of America's Second Harvest of Wisconsin. 

In honor of our 25th anniversary, Lakeside Foods of Manitowoc, a longtime partner in hunger relief, donated a truckload of canned vegetables. Dave Yanda, president and CEO of Lakeside Foods, participated in the program. 'I was struck by the fact that there are so many people, working together, to make the Second Harvest system work.  Lakeside is proud to have been a part of this very successful program and is honored to be included in the 25th anniversary Second Harvest celebration,' he said. 

Second Harvest opened its doors in 1982 with the concept of bridging the gap between hunger and waste. The food bank sought dented canned goods, food near its expiration date, mislabeled items and product overruns to distribute to food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. During the first year of service, Second Harvest distributed nearly four million pounds of food to 350 feeding programs. It all started with a bushel of apples, our very first donation. Today, Second Harvest distributes nearly 14 million pounds of food each year to 1,100 programs. Since 1982, Second Harvest has distributed more than 200 million pounds of food, enough to provide 200 million meals to people in eastern Wisconsin.

 

235,000 people in Wisconsin rely on food supplied by America's Second Harvest of Wisconsin each year. The food bank is the largest, private, non-profit distributor of food in the state. Second Harvest Food Bank distributes nearly 14 million pounds of food annually to 1,100 food pantries, meal programs and shelters throughout Wisconsin. Second Harvest Food Bank is affiliated with America's Second Harvest which is consistently ranked as one of the most efficient charities, out of the country's 100 largest charities, by Forbes magazine. Since 1982, America's Second Harvest of Wisconsin has distributed more than 200 million pounds of food. To learn more about hunger in Wisconsin, log onto www.secondharvestwi.org.