Program Information: FY 2011/2012

Numbers and activities listed below are for our fiscal year - July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012

Number of meals served in FY 2011/2012:  152,432

Breakfast – 57,130 guests

Breakfast is served Monday through Friday - St. James' Episcopal Church, 833 W. Wisconsin Avenue.  Because 60% to 70% of breakfast guestsare homeless, collaborative mental health, legal, and medical assistance is provided on site weekly.

Dinner – 13,108 guests

Dinner is served Mondays and Wednesdays at our south side site - Christian Faith Fellowship Church East, 724 S. Layton Blvd. This is our most diverse population with people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds.

Saturday Lunch – 26,580 guests

Saturday lunch is served at the above two locations and at Our Next Generation Neighborhood Center (formerly St. Andrew’s Outreach Center), 35th & Lisbon.  Between 25 and 30% of guests are children. Mt. Carmel Lutheran (82nd & Center) serves a Saturday lunch on the fourth Saturday of each month.

Shelter Meal Program – 44,755 meals

August 1, 2011 marked the beginning of our Shelter Meal Program (SMP) funded by Community Advocates. The Gathering prepares all meals on location, seven days a week, for 70-100 residents of the Women’s Refuge homeless and domestic violence shelters, and Autumn West (housing for adult mentally ill). An additional residential shelter housing 12 individuals will be added in late 2012. This program is staffed by 6 part-time employees (4 cooks & 2 drivers), a part-time manager and a nutrition consultant. Community Advocates provides the funding, kitchen and equipment; the Gathering provides the staffing, food and delivery of services. We have developed a volunteer component to the program which is in its fledgling stage. This collaboration is an excellent melding of the strengths of two long standing anti-poverty agencies.

 Our Next Generation – 10,859 meals

This tutoring/mentoring program at 35th & Lisbon - one of our Saturday lunch sites - serves a light meal four afternoons each week to program participants of middle school and high school age.  The Gathering provides food for these meals.

Additional Program Information: FY 2011/2012

Mental Health – 1,345 contacts One of the contributing factors to homelessness is mental illness.  Our collaboration with the Homeless Outreach Nursing Center focuses on connecting with and stabilizing the lives of the homeless mentally ill.  At our breakfast site mental health staff provided information/referral and general screening services to 981 Gathering breakfast guests, and direct mental health services to 364.

Produce Preservation Project – 3,496 pounds frozen

2011 was the second year of our fresh produce preservation project, designed to preserve excess donated produce received during the growing season.  The preserved produce was used in our winter meals, providing additional flavor and nutrition.  Fifty-eight (58) volunteers supported by Gathering staff froze 3,496 pounds of basil, bell peppers, cabbage, green beans and zucchini donated from farmers, gardeners and food banks.

Medical Assistance – 11 visits

Staff from St. Ben’s Medical Clinic provided blood pressure checks and medical referrals at our Breakfast site once a month for ten months out of the year and conducted flu shot clinics serving 48 guests.  Walgreens also conducted a flu shot clinic at our Breakfast site providing shots to an additional 15 guests.

Legal Assistance – 72 clinics

Attorneys from The Legal Aid Society conducted clinics at both weekday meal sites.  At our downtown Breakfast site, 51 clinics were held serving 167 guests.  The majority of issues (49%) dealt with municipal citations, warrants and fines.  The next highest issue was housing at 7%.  The remainder ranged from drivers license recovery to family issues to social security.  Twenty two clinics were held at the south side Dinner Program, serving 22 guests.  Issues were varied and included tax issues, medical malpractice, insurance, housing and social security.  Resolution of legal issues is often a first step towards job and housing stability.

Sundries from the Avenue – 2,064 served

Items such as soap, lotion, shampoo, toothbrushes & toothpaste, laundry soap, combs, and deodorant (23,101 items) were distributed to guests on a monthly basis through Sundries from the Avenue, sponsored by St. James’ Episcopal Church.

Volunteers: FY 2011/2012

This ministry relies on the hundreds of individuals and groups who donate their time and expertise.  Volunteers do 98% of the direct service work.  The numbers provided below are based on available tracking and observation from fiscal year 2011/2012. Leadership Volunteers - 65

These volunteer cooks & coordinators provide the leadership for our Saturday lunch program. They volunteered 2,681 hours valued at $47,668.

Service Volunteers – 30,861 donated hours

Gathering volunteers may come once during a year or daily. Each meal requires 12-20 volunteers, comprised of groups and individuals. In 2011/12, 31 schools, 59 churches, 25 service clubs & family groups, and 45 business groups and organizations participated.  Individuals from the surrounding area, including Gathering guests, volunteered regularly at the weekday meals. Fifty-eight (58) volunteers put in 300 hours of service time with our Produce Preservation Project. Individual volunteers completed school service requirements or court-ordered community service through their Gathering work.

In-Kind Donations: FY 2011/2012

Donated Food – 174,313 pounds 111,007 pounds of fresh and nonperishable foods from government and other sources were donated through Hunger Task Force. An additional 1,100 pounds per week came from area restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, bread companies and food wholesalers. Area farmers and gardeners donated an estimated 7,200 pounds of fresh produce for our Produce Preservation Project, and numerous volunteer groups contributed coffee, milk and homemade dessert items on a weekly basis.

Donated Supplies & Services – 108 distributions

Items such as deodorant, toothpaste & toothbrushes, laundry soap, shampoo, lotion, combs and bath soap were distributed to guests on a monthly basis through Sundries from the Avenue, sponsored by St. James’ Episcopal Church. Sixty-four distributions of sandwiches/lunches “to go” were provided by 11 groups. Thirty-two additional distributions of winter outerwear, socks, treat bags, non-perishable foods and holiday decorations in addition to equipment and in-kind services were provided by individuals, schools, service clubs, churches and scout groups.

2011 Gathering Service Award Winners

At our Volunteer Recognition Event, we awarded volunteers with Service Awards. Here is a complete list of our winners. 

Individual Awards

The George Greene Award for exceptional service by a guest turned volunteer is named after founder and long time Gathering Board President. The 2011 George Greene Award went to Robert Harrell who has been faithfully volunteering daily at our Breakfast Program.

The following individual volunteers reached service milestones in 2011 for number of years of continuous volunteering:

• 25 years: Lisa Murray, Cook Team Leader and Kitchen Coordinator, St. James’ Saturday
• 20 years: Sister Carolyn Stahl, Breakfast Program weekly volunteer
• 15 years: Bill & Mitzi Roy, Coordinators, South Side Saturday
• 15 years: Robin Coffman, Cook Team, St. James’ Saturday
• 10 years: Andy & Marisa McKee, Cook Team, South Side Saturday
• 7 years: Harvey & Cheryl Ganske, Coordinators, South Side Saturday
• 7 years: Marie Hoven, Coordinator, St. James’ Saturday
• 7 years: Deacon Ned Howe, Breakfast Program weekly volunteer
• 7 years: Tom & Diane McGinn,Cook Team, St. James’ Saturday
• 7 years: Carol Pat Szopinski, Cook Team, St. James’ Saturday
• 5 years: Mike Yost, Cook Team, St. James’ Saturday
• 5 years: Lisa Schuldt, Cook Team, St. James’ Saturday
• 5 years: Cheri Grambo, Cook Team, ONG Saturday
• 3 years: Velma Foster, Cook Team, ONG Saturday
• 3 years: Noni Guddie, Coordinator, St. James’ Saturday
• 3 years: Dan & Judy Linsley, Cook Team, St. James’ Saturday
• 3 years: Joanna Linsley, Cook Team, St. James’ Saturday
• 3 years: Tricia Trexell, Coordinator, St. James’ Saturday

Group Awards

The following groups reached service milestones in 2011 for number of times volunteering:

• Over 300:  Marquette University High School
• Over 175:  Johnson Controls
• Over 150:  Emmanuel Community United Methodist 
• Over 125:  Fox Point Lutheran 
• Over 75:  Immanuel Presbyterian, St. Rafael Catholic School
• Over 65:  St. Christopher’s Episcopal, St. John Vianney Firm Believers
• Over 50:  Joy Global
• Over 35:  YouthWorks
• Over 25:  Beautiful Savior Lutheran, St. Peter’s UCC, Trinity Lutheran
• Over 15:  Divine Savior Holy Angels High School, Mt. Carmel Lutheran, St. Boniface J2A/Rite 13 Youth Group, St. Paul’s UCC

Friend of The Gathering Awards

Friend of The Gathering Awards are given to agencies, groups or individuals who have demonstrated exceptional compassion and dedication to The Gathering itself or to those we serve. 2011 winners are:

• Roger Carroll (St. James’ Saturday Floor Coordinator) for exceptional attitude, training new coordinators and willingness to fill in whenever asked.
• Michael Chavez, Darrell Hopkins & Jesse Karr (Warehouse staff at Feeding America) for exceptional service to Gathering Staff and going out of their way to meet our food needs.
• Joy Global (Formerly P&H) for consistent, generous and varied support of The Gathering’s work.
• Joanna Linsley for commitment to The Gathering through board service, formation of Saturday cook team, and championing small Gathering Friendraiser events.
• Nino Machi (Machi Produce) for donations of wonderful fresh produce.
• Mount Carmel Lutheran Church (Northwest Side Church) for joining in the fight against hunger by piloting an additional Saturday meal site.
• Israel Ojeda (National Warehouse staff) for helping above and beyond the call of duty.
• Bill & Mitzi Roy for exceptional service as Saturday Coordinators, filling in as Breakfast Coordinators, and assisting in volunteer development for the new Shelter Meal Program.
• Nancy Wieland (Mental Health Nurse) for many years of service to the mental health needs of our Breakfast guests through our collaboration with the Homeless Outreach Nursing Center.

Nancy Wieland and George Neureuther, Breakfast Coordinator

2012 Gathering Volunteer Celebration

Cheers to Our Volunteers!

This year’s Volunteer Recognition Event was a blast, with over 200 volunteers in attendance at the MillerCoors Visitor Center on the evening of Friday May 4, 2012.  The event kicked off with a private brewery tour where attendees discovered what goes on behind-the-scenes at MillerCoors, including viewings of the large brew kettles and historic caves.

After the tour everyone gathered in the Visitor Center space for a full taco bar and enjoyed complimentary beverages donated by MillerCoors. While attendees mingled and noshed, they also had an opportunity to participate in a photo project highlighting the rewards of volunteering at the Gathering. The outcome of this project, a slide show, will be featured on the Gathering’s revamped website in the coming months.

The auditorium was filled with folks sitting and standing, to honor the recipients of the 2011 Service Awards. The crowd cheered as Gathering staff member Marianne Bach gave personal tributes to each award winner.

The evening ended as everyone re-entered the Visitor Center space to enjoy some Classy Girl Cupcakes and coffee before departing. A special Thank You to all Board members, volunteers and staff who helped make this event so memorable for our dedicated volunteers.