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Feeding the People

Mary Lee LeFevre, thrift store coordinator, goes through donations before putting material out for sale in the store. Photo by Jim Lundstrom.

At a recent appreciation dinner for the volunteers at Feed and Clothe My People, a new volunteer marveled at all the smiles.

Board President Carol Krueger remembers the woman said, “These people are all so happy to be volunteering. I was in a work environment and everyone complained about work, and here they are just pleased to come and help out.”

“Maybe,” Carol said, “that’s the secret of life.”

Volunteerism is at the core of Feed and Clothe My People’s success, and this green nonprofit’s story is certainly one of success because of its many volunteers.

“What’s cool about us, we’re not supported by any other outside organization. We’re supported by the community, and the community really supports us,” Carol said.

By that she refers to the community support received from people who donate items, businesses that make donations, people who buy the donated items at the thrift store on 14th Avenue in Sturgeon Bay, and the team of volunteers who donate their time to make this nonprofit a successful operation that serves the needs of people who have fallen through society’s cracks.

People in need don’t often cross our minds during this annual celebration of family and fun that we know as summertime. But the needy really do exist year round. They can’t help that. Even on this peninsula that offers so much for so many, people fall between society’s cracks on any given day in any season.

But, you say, society has created safety nets for the needy. Yes, but they are nets with very large holes to fall through – economic emergencies, medical emergencies, deaths in the family, economic downturns, layoffs, house fires; the circumstances that could put any one of us in need of assistance are many.

The good folks at Feed and Clothe My People know this, and are there to offer a helping hand out of that unforgiving place when there is nowhere else to turn.

Stella Huff, director of operations and one of only two fulltime employees, said the organization began in 1982 after shipyard layoffs. Social services worker Bev Hogan and Sturgeon Bay Moravian Church minister Rev. Burke Johnson were hearing about laid off workers who were not eligible for government assistance but who needed help meeting obligations during their down time.

“They started with a food pantry,” Stella said.

The first pantry was located at Burke’s church.

“Pretty soon they realized it wasn’t just food. People needed clothing, too,” Carol said.

The location bounced around a couple of times until the board decided the need was never going away and that it is great enough to warrant the establishment of a permanent location. The board bought the old roller skating rink on 14th Avenue and opened for business in July 2000.

“You still see a little evidence of the roller rink. You see the carpeting on the wall,” Carol said as we walked through the thrift store section of the building.”

“People can come and get a pair of blue jeans for $1, a shirt for 50 cents. We have a lot of women and children’s clothes, something that parents of young kids should know,” Carol said. “There’s glassware, pots and pans, bedding. There’s always knick knacks and gift items. Right now we have lots of picture frames. Jewelry. CDs. Books. Every month there’s a turnover, and we have 50 percent off days too. Then the community lines up at the door. (The first Thursday and Friday of the month, 50 percent off all clothing, linen, shoes, books, movies, toys, handbags, belts and wallets. The second Thursday and Friday of the month, 50 percent off cookware, bakeware, electrical items, small appliances, knick knacks, craft items, pictures, dishes, glassware and cups.)

“It’s a revolving door in terms of making a profit so we can share that with the community,” said board member Tom Gilman.

What doesn’t sell and what is considered unsalable by the volunteers who sort through the donations is sent to either the Sunshine House or Goodwill in Green Bay.

“We’re a green nonprofit with all that good recycling we do,” Carol said. “We don’t toss things away. We keep them going on down the line. Tons of materials come in the back door, come into the shop and get recycled out.”

This is where the volunteers are so important – keeping the mountains of donated material organized and moving.

“Each day of the week we have another crew of volunteers to do sorting of items. We do have some staff, but mostly it’s the community volunteering their hours. They put in more than 1,000 hours a month,” Carol said.

The beneficiaries of all this effort are those who come to Feed and Clothe My People with need.

“On an average month, we’re giving food pantries to 136 people,” Carol said, adding that can go up in the winter months because of the seasonal nature of many Door County businesses. “Our biggest month is November. That’s when the need is greatest.”

“We provide what we call a pantry based on the size of the family, enough to last two weeks, everything – meat, milk, eggs, butter, bread, fruit, canned goods,” said Rich Kinka, vice president of the board.

They are able to keep their own pantry filled with the assistance of several area grocers, including Pick N Save, Tadych’s Econo Foods, both in Sturgeon Bay, and Main Street Market in Egg Harbor, which provides a lot of bakery items.

“We refrigerate our bakery markdowns and give them to Feed My People. We don’t have too many this time of year, but it is substantial during most of the year,” said Kaaren Northrop of Main Street Market. “We also give them all of our dented and outdated products. You’d be amazed how the slightest ding on a box or can makes it un-saleable! Whenever we get mistakes we often send them to Feed My People…It’s a great organization and Stella does a helluva job!”

There are no stringent requirements to get help from the organization.

“We’re pretty easygoing as far as qualifying,” Rich said. “They just have to show they reside in Door County and they are asked a few questions about their circumstances.”

Last Thanksgiving 107 families prepared Thanksgiving meals with food donated by Feed and Clothe My People, 140 families received gifts and food for Christmas, and 157 children received winter coats.

Each quarter the organization also provides a special food pantry for shut-in seniors, and since 2009 there has been Back Pack Buddies, a program to provide nutritious snacks for children who qualify for the free or low-cost lunch programs.

“They get a little brown lunchbag filled with five nutritious snacks, every week of the school year,” said Carol, who organized the program. “These kids go home with something a little better than pop or chips or candy bars. There’s pudding, fruit, granola bars, things like that. Because of the donations, we can afford to buy snack items for low-income kids.”

All this good work exudes a sense of goodness around it. To illustrate, Rich tells a story about a find made by one of the volunteer workers sorting through donated clothing.

“A couple years ago one of the workers found $2,000 rolled up in a shoe. They managed to find the original owner of the shoes and return the money,” he said. “I thought that was amazing.”