Families in Milwaukee’s Metcalfe Park neighborhood recently gathered at a local food pantry to receive essential food items for the holidays.
The Jewish Community Pantry hosted its annual Community Joy Day, where they provided items such as fresh produce and a turkey or ham. This year, they were expecting to feed more than 200 households.
The Jewish Community Pantry has been serving Milwaukee for more than 50 years. One way it continues to do so is through its annual Community Joy Day event. The pantry partners with Metcalfe Park Community Bridges to ensure that residents have the food they need for the holidays.
Even the snow and freezing cold didn’t stop staff and volunteers from helping residents access necessary resources for their families.
The holidays can be an especially busy and difficult time for some people. So I wondered what keeps them joyful. First, I talked to some of the staff and volunteers to hear their answers.
Heidi Gould, director of the Jewish Community Pantry, says, “I like to spend time with my family and my little kids but here at the pantry, connecting with the community, hearing folks' stories, and finding ways we can both build each other up is always a way I keep my spirits up even when we have these gray Milwaukee winter days."
Santa was even present at Community Joy Day. Well, it was Mark Shapiro, president and CEO of the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, dressed as Santa. He says he gets joy out of seeing the food pantry’s impact on the communities they serve.
“It’s joyful in that people are getting part of their holiday that they might not have had without the community investing in the pantry and the pantry being able to do good for other people. At the same time, hunger does not know holidays," says Shapiro. "People pay a lot of attention during Thanksgiving and Christmas. But when you don’t have a guaranteed meal or you're not able to feed your family, that happens in February too, and so it’s all the time this pantry is open serving our community, tens and twenty of thousands of people every year, fills me with joy."
Outside the entrance of the food pantry, families waited to receive their holiday food items. I asked a few of them what keeps them joyful during the holidays.
OD Wood says he’s happy to be living to celebrate them. “Just seeing other people out here and moving around, it makes me happy that everybody just seems to be going about their business," Wood says.
Other guests say their families were a source of joy during this time of year.
Aquillas Scott says, “The only things that bring me joy are my grandkids and the people who brought them here.”
And Octavia Thomas says it’s her children that keep a smile on her face during the holidays: “My kids. I just like seeing the smiles on their faces. It’s a joy to actually see something. They don't really get a lot of things, and we don’t really have a lot, so it’s fun to see their expressions on their faces. It’s a different expression every year. So, I’m happy.”
The holiday season can be full of emotions – and financial struggles – for families.
Community Joy Day is just one local initiative helping to support those in need.
