MILWAUKEE– Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, All Peoples Gathering Chruch gives away over 1500 pounds of produce, dairy, and bakery goods to the Milwaukee community from their “Gathering Table”.
Food Justice Advocate and Garden Educator Susan Holty told WTMJ over 250 total families come every week, and the church always gives out every last bit of the food they bring, providing people a chance to eat healthier for no cost.
“We actually have some that’ll let us know they’ve lost 40 and 50 pounds. We’ve had people tell us they’re off their diabetes medicine… It’s a huge difference.” Holty said.
One of their original grants was for helping kids get off of foods like “spicy chips and packaged meals like mac & cheese.”
“It’s great to hear parents talk about all the different foods they’re making their kids like,” Holty said.
Over 250 total families come every week, and the church always gives out every last bit of the food they bring.
“We desperately need people to come out here and save the food. We want to feed people. We also don’t want to see so much waste. Almost all this food is organic, and it’s all within expiration dates,” she said.
All Peoples Gathering Church first started giving out food when their garden started to grow more, and now they partner with different churches and organizations such as Feeding America and Pete’s Fresh Food Market.
“Through the pandemic quarantine, [Pete’s Fresh Food Market] gave us enough produce to give 60 families two bags of produce during the eight weeks we were in quarantine,” Holty said.
One of the church’s other goals is to fight for food justice.
“In the states, over 60% of our post-harvested crops are wasted, and over 30% are our foods,” she said.
The church wants to keep on growing and giving back to the community.
“We always have more. We never want anybody to think it’s only for the people who are without,” she said. “Food justice is for all of us. Food should not be wasted. People should not go hungry.”
The Gathering’s free produce giveaway is every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 12-4 p.m. at All Peoples Gathering Church on 2nd Street and Clarke.
