Meet Willie Bryant: A Route Representative Delivering Healthy Food For 17 Years

50 Faces. 50 Stories. 50 Years of Fighting Hunger.

Hunger Task Force is proud to be Milwaukee’s only Free & Local food bank and Wisconsin’s anti-hunger leader. In celebration of our 50th Anniversary, Hunger Task Force is highlighting “50 Faces of Ending Hunger,” honoring the anti-hunger heroes who champion Free & Local and support our mission to end hunger.

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At Hunger Task Force, our team of route representatives plays a pivotal role in feeding our most vulnerable neighbors in need. Willie Bryant has been a part of the team for 17 years and couldn’t imagine working anywhere else or in a different role.

“When you like your job, you’re not really working,” says Bryant. “At Hunger Task Force, you get paid to make an impact in the community and I don’t know what more I could ask for. I deliver someone’s next meal.”

His career follows a rather untraditional path. Upon being released from incarceration, he joined the team at Hunger Task Force in 2007. He worked at Hunger Task Force, completing warehouse-related tasks for a few months, before he was offered a full-time position as a route representative the following year.

“My advice to anyone in a similar position is to keep trying and never give up. You gotta stay the course to get to the finish line,” added Bryant.

In 2012, Willie endured a setback in his career when he temporarily lost his license. Sherrie Tussler, CEO of Hunger Task Force, helped him get back into his parole program to obtain work at Hunger Task Force as a farm hand. He helped with overnight irrigation for a short period of time before he was rehired as a route representative.

Incredibly social, Willie has a knack for building relationships with the staff at Hunger Task Force network partners who accept the food he delivers. Willie not only takes time to drop off the food and check in on the staff, but he also stays to ensure everything is situated and all the food can be carried into the pantry, meal site, senior center or soup kitchen safely.

Willie is a testament to the saying – when life gives your lemons, make lemonade.

Meet the 50 Faces of Ending Hunger!

Click below to discover real people making a difference in the fight against hunger – new faces added each month! As we journey through our 50th year, keep checking back to meet more incredible individuals making a difference.