Rooted & Rising Community Food Center
A Festive and Impactful Holiday Season at the Community Food Center
It has been an amazingly festive time around here at Rooted & Rising - Washington Park, especially in our Community Food Center where we offer free nutritious meal choices to families in need!
Throughout the month of November, the Community Food Center hosted a distribution where we serviced over 70 families for the Thanksgiving holiday! In preparation for that distribution, Rooted & Rising partnered with Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church to package and prepare boxes that included a turkey and all the tasty, traditional fixings that we can all appreciate while spending quality time with family! Our Executive Director, Bill Schmitt, whipped up a humongous pot of vegetable soup utilizing fresh veggies from our produce stock for our families in which he received many rad reviews!
There was an abundance of fresh produce from our community partners Hunger Task Force, Trader Joe’s, West Allis Farmers Market and 5ive Seasons Farm. Throughout the past few months, we have received many donations of personal hygiene items, brand new/ gently used coats, hats, and other weather appropriate attire that we were also able to distribute during that amazing event! Most of these beautiful hats, gloves and scarf pieces were hand-sewn amongst the congregations and youth ministries that so often contribute to our mission! These warm pieces were a major hit for our families with children!
Our amazing partnership with Froedtert Hospital allowed us to offer blood pressure and glucose screenings for our patrons for this event and every week on Wednesdays during Food Center hours. Without boasting, we can pat ourselves on the back because our food center was truly filled with beautiful people smiling, laughing, singing, and dancing amongst one another on that day! We are simply forever grateful to be a part of the service in the Washington Park community and proud to offer a space where individuals and families can come into our building and feel a sense of dignity and belonging!
Through our continuous efforts as a non-profit social service agency, we are always seeking donations of non- perishable food and hygiene items (toilet paper, toothbrushes, individually wrapped toothbrushes, bar soap, etc.) and volunteers to further make an impact on the Washington Park community. The Rooted & Rising Community Food Center services the 53208 and 53210 zip codes of Milwaukee County.
Our volunteer opportunities in the food center include a food center associate, stocker, and an aspiring chef that would be interested in utilizing our kitchen to prepare a tasty sampling or meal from the available food categories. Our food center hours are Mondays and Wednesdays 12p-4p. We are open on Tuesdays for Stock Box recipients (age 60+), Tuesdays 9-11a. There is a need for a stocker on our designated delivery days. This individual must be able to lift 30 pounds and have exceptional organization skills. Community partners are always welcome to come into our space and share their resources and expertise with our staff and food center patrons. As mentioned, with the New Year approaching, we encourage you to come into our space and witness the amazing work being done in the Washington Park community! Happy New Year!