I don’t know why it’s so difficult to ask for money.
After all, what’s the worst that could happen? People say “no,” you move on.
And if people say “yes,” open their wallets and their hearts, then you’ve netted only good on behalf of your cause.
But personally, be it fundraising for the music department when I was in high school, fundraising for scholarships when I was on my college’s alumni association board, or growing support now for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin’s annual Stock the Shelves campaign to fight food insecurity in our communities, I’ve always needed to be prodded into asking. Even though people have always been generous.
This year, in the face of ever-greater need, our readers were incredibly generous. We not only hit our goal, but once we surpassed it and set a higher one, they came through again.
More than 822 of them.
From Milwaukee, Appleton and Green Bay. In Manitowoc and Sheboygan and Fond du Lac and Oshkosh. Across Wausau, Stevens Point, Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids. In Door and Oconto counties. Even those who used to live here, and no longer do.
They all came together.
Reader donations, paired with funds from our partners, stacked up to enough money for more than 740,000 meals for our neighbors in need.
“The Stock the Shelves campaign is one of the most important things we do each year as journalists in our communities,” said Greg Borowski, executive editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, whose responsibilities include Green Bay and Appleton newsrooms.
“Our staff members live in our communities, see the needs first hand and want to make a difference, in this case by writing stories that highlight the need,” Borowski said. “The response from our neighbors overwhelms us, especially this year, when the needs are so great.”
In our Wednesday editions, you’ll find a page thanking each and every one of the 639 donors (or pairs/groups of donors, as several donations are attributed to married duos or families) whose names we know, as well as a general thank-you to the 183 donors who chose to withhold their names, but not their kindness.
“Monetary donations from this year’s Stock the Shelves campaign will be used to purchase turkeys and other holiday meal items such as fresh produce and shelf-stable ingredients, which will then be distributed to our neighbors facing hunger this Thanksgiving season,” said Liz Wollenberg, Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin’s chief systems and strategy officer. “[We] will leverage our relationships with food vendors and manufacturers to secure the best price and stretch donor dollars even further to make a large impact for families in need.”
To everyone who contributed this year, we cannot thank you enough.
Taima Kern, editor, Appleton Post-Crescent; business news content coach, Appleton Post-Crescent and Green Bay Press-Gazette on Monday, Jan.9, 2023, in Appleton, Wis.
Taima Kern is editor of the Appleton Post-Crescent, and business editors for the Post-Crescent and the Green Bay Press Gazette. Reach her at [email protected] or 920-907-7819. Follow her on X (Twitter) @TaimaKern.
Our 2025 Stock the Shelves coverage
Oct. 23: August floods hit Milwaukee food pantries hard. Distribution disrupted despite high demand.
Oct. 15: These two volunteers help serve food pantries across eastern Wisconsin | Stock the Shelves
Oct. 9: Food pantry demand up sharply. Here are the factors that contribute to the increased need.
Oct. 2: More people are using food pantries in Wisconsin for the first time. Here’s how to get started
Oct. 1: Stock the Shelves returns for 2025. Here’s why we want to raise money for 550K meals
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin readers donate enough for 740,000 meals
