This November, the Lake Geneva Jaycees once again astounded us at the Lake Geneva Food Pantry with over-the-top, complete Thanksgiving meal donations, and a generous monetary donation. This great group of people uses their gifts of event organization and creative thinking, to produce activities that raise funds to benefit those in our community. We are grateful to be the beneficiary of their good works, and are always happy to see their smiling faces toting in (and putting away!) their contributions. What’s more!? Stinebrink’s Piggly Wiggly matched the number of meals! 

This November, St. Francis de Sales Confirmation Class students collected donations for the Lake Geneva Food Pantry at Wal-Mart and Piggly Wiggly. In only two hours, these young people were able to collect over 800 pounds of generous gifts of nonperishable food items and personal hygiene products as well. What a phenomenal contribution to our community and a tremendous example of goodwill! 

​On Monday, November 14, 2022 students and staff from Lake Geneva Middle School dropped off 2,500 pounds of collected donations to the Lake Geneva Food Pantry. This collection was truly a group effort: help came from staff, administration, parents from PTO, SOUL Club members, and Freedom Alliance members for the packing and transporting to the Pantry. What wonderful community support!

​Today Marlene (middle) and Carly (right) from Lake Geneva’s Marlene Conroy State Farm Agency presented Lake Geneva Food Pantry volunteer Amy Myhre (left) with an impressive stack of free Kwik Trip milk coupons for our patrons. The Pantry is truly appreciative of this community donation. The timing couldn’t be more perfect for all the kids home from school for the summer!

​Girl Scout Troop 3241, along with their leaders, stopped into the Lake Geneva Food Pantry to donate well over 252 packages of Girl Scout Cookies! The young women asked thoughtful questions about the workings of the Pantry and discussed the impact of their donations on the patrons. A heartwarming group of smiling (and silly) faces toted boxes up and down the stairs to create a ripple effect of positivity for the community!

Today Lake Geneva Montessori School pupils (along with teachers!), literally created a donation parade from the school to the Lake Geneva Food Pantry, with each child toting a handful of varied contributions to the Pantry. In small groups, the children proudly carried each donation to a Pantry cart and observed the offerings provided to the clients. Each student was able to ask questions, contribute, and see the positive effects of their actions in a tangible way. What a positive reflection on our community!

Today Girl Scout Troop 7166, along with leader Nancy Lazzaroni and parent Cassie Knox, donated over 72 boxes of yummy Girl Scout Cookies to the Lake Geneva Food Pantry. (Not pictured: co-leader/cookie sales coordinator Heidi Schuessler), The Troop spent a bit of time learning how the Pantry works and the equivalent of how many meals are served monthly. (A bit of math was included when they calculated total years per year!) What a great group of girls, and truly positive, example-setting leaders.

​On Wednesday, students and staff from Traver School dropped off over 1,500 items to the Lake Geneva Food Pantry. Students started to collect nonperishables as a school soup drive for National Soup Month and transformed it into a major food drive for the Pantry. Pictured are students with some of their donations.

On Saturday, January 29, 2022, with well over 1,000 participants, The Abominable Snow Race (https://www.facebook.com/abominablesnowrace) racers, volunteers, and organizers took part in an extreme, athletic, winter event to raise funds for the Lake Geneva Food Pantry to help address food insecurity in our community. The Yeti Nation hosted this physical challenge of 5.8 miles and 24 obstacles, with teams bringing in an astounding amount of donations for the Pantry through team fundraising, selling gear, and impromptu donations on site. Bill Wolfe, Owner, Race Director ASR Events, LLC presented a check for $4,300 to the Lake Geneva Food Pantry. Accepting for the Pantry were Nancy LaCursia (long-time LGFP volunteer) and Annmarie Ruggiero (LGFP volunteer and board member), while Cathy Koch (LGFP volunteer) kept the info table staffed.

Lake Geneva Jaycees, in collaboration with Stinebrink’s Piggly Wiggly, donated, dropped off, carried in, AND helped put away enough turkeys, buns, pies, whipping cream, corn, beans, cranberries, and other side dishes, along with a monetary donation, to ensure that all of our patrons can enjoy a traditional holiday meal this season. The Lake Geneva Food Pantry is incredibly thankful to be the beneficiary of such gifts, which allows us to continue our mission of serving the Lake Geneva community.