MILWAUKEE — A staple in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood known for providing food, connecting people to resources and helping build community is changing its name to better reflect what it does.
Riverwest Food Pantry has become Kinship Community Food Center. The center distributes about 300,000 pounds of food every year and that continued through the pandemic. Now, in the face of inflation, the pantry is absorbing rising food costs determined to remain a source of support.
The executive director said he wants to engage people from all corners of Milwaukee in the center's mission of improving lives and growing community well-being. He explained that the initial idea for the name change was sparked by a survey. "We were like 'Why do you come here?' and the highest response rate, 70% of the people, were like — it's a family. The sense of not being alone," recalled Vincent Noth. "The second-highest (response) was the great food."
Noth says he sees Kinship Community Food Center as a place where people can pick up food, cook, and eat together. He believes that kind of unity will help address hunger but also problems of isolation and poverty. TMJ4 shared the impact inflation is having on the food center and ways you can help. To learn more click here.
