Meet Hunger Relief Federation Partner Waushara County Food Pantry

May 4, 2026

waushara county food pantry hunger relief federation hrf (1)

Hunger Task Force is the founding member of the Hunger Relief Federation, a statewide network of independent food banks and food pantries working together to strengthen hunger relief efforts across Wisconsin. Waushara County Food Pantry joined the Federation in 2016 and has benefited greatly from its membership.

“To me, joining the Hunger Relief Federation is a commonsense decision,” says Tyler Weston, director of the Waushara County Food Pantry. “I think if you’re only providing emergency food – that’s half the battle. We need to also advocate to fix the systems that lead people to experience food insecurity. The Hunger Relief Federation provides quick actions members can take to do this. Easy ways to promote anti-hunger policies don’t always fall on my radar, so getting updates about what’s going on and what we can do as a group to hopefully change the hunger landscape is really useful.”

In Waushara County, the pantry predominately serves a retiree population representing about 50% of all pantry traffic. However, the pantry serves nearly 450 households every month which equates to roughly 1,200 people.

“Many people think there’s not a big issue when it comes to hunger in these lower population areas that are rural like ours because there are fewer people living in our community,” adds Tyler. “We’re located in very impoverished county. Despite Waushara County being a largely retirement community, there are not a lot of working opportunities for adults here. So that leads to people working in retail and fast food where wages unfortunately aren’t enough to get by in today’s economy.”

In addition to being a Hunger Relief Federation member, Waushara County Food Pantry recently received a $15,000 grant through Connecting Farms to Families to purchase fresh food from local farmers and producers to stock pantry shelves. Waushara County Food Pantry is also a Stockbox distribution site. Through the Stockbox program, qualifying older adults receive a box of shelf stable healthy food each month to support their nutrition needs and supplement their monthly food budget. Hunger Task Force is the administrator of the Stockbox program supporting Waushara County families.

Waushara County Food Pantry is open to the public on Friday’s from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. For more information about the Hunger Relief Federation, which connects anti-hunger advocate partners throughout the state to combat hunger region-by-region, visit www.HungerTaskForce.org/federation

Hunger Task Force is Milwaukee’s Free & Local food bank and Wisconsin’s anti-hunger leader. The organization’s core values are Dignity, Justice, Equity, Compassion and Stewardship. Hunger Task Force feeds people today by providing healthy and culturally appropriate food to hungry children, families and seniors in the community absolutely free of charge. Hunger Task Force also works to end future hunger by advocating for strong public policies and nutrition programs at the local, state and federal level.