News

A Note From the Director

Some small interactions instantly convince us that our work to combat food insecurity is necessary and impactful. A mischievous smile from a toddler lives rent-free in my mind from a time that I was loading groceries into the backseat of his dad's car. Another time, I connected a donated birthday cake to a mother who was panicked that she had nothing for her son's eighth birthday. Then there was the time I used a call-in translator, walking beside a Hmong elder as she shopped a pantry alone for the first time because her adult daughter was in the hospital.

Memories like these really stick with me and are easy reminders of the importance of this work. I am not alone in this, though. Thousands of people, in hundreds of critical programs in Feed My People's service area, have each had similar experiences. They are each similarly grateful that they were able to tell a neighbor, "I've got you," and make a difference.

When I transitioned from the work of providing a pantry to a community to the work of providing a food bank to communities throughout 20% of Wisconsin, I knew that I would miss these regular direct interactions with our neighbors. There was another experience, however, that I brought with me from that work: the reassurance that I felt as a Feed My People truck backed up to our pantry door. I knew that the scale of work that we were able to accomplish in that pantry would not have been possible without Feed My People's partnership and dedicated mission.

In this experience, too, I am not alone.  Thousands of people, in hundreds of critical programs in our area, also know the sound of a Feed My People truck backing up to provide food to their community. They know how crucial it is to have a reliable source of affordable, plentiful, and nutritious food. They know what it is like to be supported as they do the important work of supporting our neighbors. As we work to be a stronger partner to communities across our region, meeting growing need with fewer barriers to quality food, I ask you to recognize how essential you are. Your hands, volunteering with Feed My People, may not place groceries directly into a father's car, but they prepare pallets and fill orders that make that moment possible. Your donations may not buy a single cart of groceries, but they fuel the trucks delivering thousands of pounds of food to multiple programs each day. And your voice, advocating for this work, helps ensure our neighbors can access nutritious food through FMP-supported programs every day. Already in 2026, those programs have provided food to our neighbors more than 300,000 times, and we're not even halfway through the year.

Thank you for your continued support.  We truly cannot do it without you.

In gratitude,

Padraig Gallagher

Feed My People executive director