Mar Mar Lin Helps Refugee Families Enroll in FoodShare for Nearly 12 Years

Hunger Task Force is 100% community-supported and is Milwaukee’s only Free & Local food bank. Mar Mar Lin has served as a FoodShare Advocate for 12 years and helps many refugee families apply for and maintain their monthly FoodShare benefits as they work to build their lives in Wisconsin.

I love our community, especially my refugee community,” said Mar Mar. “To be able to give back to families like mine through my job is important.”

When Mar Mar came to the United States nearly 26 years ago, there weren’t agencies like Hunger Task Force at the ready to help families maintain consistent access to healthy food. At the time, refugee families didn’t know about food pantries or federal nutrition programs and were only connected to resources through their church that sponsored them. Once families got housing, they were on their own to find a job, pay for rent and feed themselves.

Mar Mar works to ensure immigrant families know about Hunger Task Force, and other community resources, that can make settling into their new routines and lives easier and more affordable.

As a FoodShare Advocate, she helps immigrant families apply for and maintain their FoodShare benefits in their native language. Knowing language can be a barrier to apply, Mar Mar clearly talks families through every step in Burmese. She reminds individuals and families to apply for FoodShare and remember that immigrant statuses vary for different households. From asylum seekers to refugees and individuals married with a sponsor, different statuses can still qualify individuals and families to receive FoodShare as eligibility changes are being implemented nationwide.

“Seeing the upcoming changes to FoodShare, I’m sad. A lot of families who have young children – especially in the refugee community – are living in a one income household. The reason is cultural and traditionally fathers work and mothers stay at home to raise children and take care of the home. There are many immigrant families who are going to be struggling more than before because of the changes,” adds Mar Mar. “This is where community-based organizations like Hunger Task Force come in to point families in the right direction to their neighborhood food pantry to get help so they can keep a roof over their head and feed their children.”

FoodShare is the first line of defense against hunger. FoodShare benefits are funded 100% by the federal government. In Milwaukee County, more than 635,000 people use their monthly FoodShare benefit to purchase groceries.

Mar Mar is passionate about making resettling easier for immigrant families and is proud to have built a career connecting people to FoodShare to purchase the healthy and culturally familiar foods they want to eat. To learn more about FoodShare and program eligibility, click here.

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.