LITTLE CHUTE, Wis. (WFRV) – Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin saw a need increase by 36% during the height of the pandemic.

Patti Habeck the President and CEO of Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin says, “We’re reaching deep into communities to make sure the person has what they need.”

They were there to support anyone that found themselves in need of a little extra help.

“At this point, we’re supporting over half a million people in Eastern Wisconsin and those numbers are very very high and we really encourage the community to continue to support the hunger relief system,” explains Habeck.

They say need levels are still elevated from where they were pre-pandemic in 2019.

“We were able to manage through all that in a number of different ways,” says Habeck. “But we’re still dealing with the end result of that which is a 27% increase [at the time of publishing] from pre-pandemic of people in need.”

Feeding America says they are doing everything they can to support their partner pantries during this time.

“What we do is provide the food to the food pantries,” explains Habeck. “We also are really working to make sure that food pantry has what it needs in all different ways so we provide capacity such as refrigeration or trucks. Sometimes we provide expertise.”

In the future, the organization plans to continue to support all of its partner groups no matter how difficult.

You can find more information about volunteering here and donating here.