When volunteers from The Giving Tree food pantry arrived on Monday, they couldn’t believe their eyes.
“They were so overwhelmed,” said GBCC GO Coordinator Janette Adamski. "There were tears.”
Tears of joy following the TP The Pantry event on Sunday at Green Bay Community Church. A total of 4,350 paper products were collected Sunday morning, and more is still coming in this week.
“They’ve been trying to find places to stuff it,” Janette said. "It’s everywhere in that pantry now. Every corner is full. They’re trying to get it out of the hallway.”
It’s a good problem to have. Many families served by the pantry cut back on paper products when money is tight, so it’s great when the shelves are stocked with much-needed toilet paper, paper towels, hygiene products and other paper goods.
"I think we have a very generous community,” Janette said. "If they know there’s a real need, and we say there is a need, they respond. It is amazing.”
A similar generous response occurred in February on Meat The Pantry Sunday, when GBCC attenders were asked to bring frozen meat to help stock The Giving Tree shelves.
"They respond to the need,” Janette said. "It’s personal. It’s their community.”
The Giving Tree, which is located in the GBCC Care Center, gives away around 8,000 pounds of food per month, which helps an average of 130 families.
GBCC GO Director Tricia Murphy has a theory about why people at GBCC respond to needs so generously.
"They like to be part of something bigger,” Tricia said. "They know the pantry does a great job. They want to be part of meeting a need in a bigger way than just themselves."
The Giving Tree moved from a small room at Bay View Middle School to the GBCC Care Center in August 2016.
"We saw a huge need, it was overwhelming,” Tricia said about why GBCC opened its doors to The Giving Tree, which is a Howard-Suamico school district organization. “It was so hard to see families stand in line outside and in the boys locker room of a junior high school. It seemed wrong to have this building (GBCC) and this space and not offer the space. I love that they’re here. That was the No. 1 motivator for us was meeting needs.”
Nearly $1 million was raised through GBCC’s Ripple campaign to build the Care Center, which also serves the poor through the Circles Green Bay program, offers benevolence to those in need, and has office space for social workers and others who are helping community members.
Among the goals for the future, Tricia said offering Pantry Days more often each month is on the list, as well as enlisting more GBCC attenders to volunteer in the pantry.
The Giving Tree has made efforts to reach out to the elderly population. There is also an effort to offer food assistance to those living outside Howard and Suamico.
