Badger Prairie Needs Network

Food pantry in 2023, we provided the ingredients for over 1.6 million meals to 82,223 individuals from 24,199 households. Inflation, high housing expenses, and reduced government benefits had a high impact on the population that we serve. About 65% of all households coming to bpnn for food assistance speak only spanish so we try to purchase culturally relevant and familiar food to promote healthy eating. We have recruited bilingual speakers and translators to help on every shift. We are also employing technology to bridge the language gap when bilingual volunteers are not available. Almost a third (32%) of the people we served were children and 8% are senior citizens. Seventy-eight percent of all households have someone working for wages, but inflation and economic setbacks from the pandemic make our service essential.

Legal advocacywe assist low income individuals with legal matters involving landlord/tenant disputes, predatory lending abuses, family conflict, employment problems, etc. Referrals are accepted from dane county joining forces for families social workers and local clergy. Participating attorneys provide pro bono services and, as needed, cover case related expenses. This program levels the playing field for poor households that might otherwise be victimized by unfair/illegal treatment.

Prairie kitchen nutrition/incubator programsthe commercial-grade kitchen serves 4 strategic programs: 1) food repackaging: surplus prepared food is donated by corporate cafeterias to our kitchen to table initiative where it is safely repackaged into microwaveable grab-n-go meals. Almost 100 tons of quality food has been diverted from landfills through this program, 2) community meal: we are a licensed restaurant so that the entire community may join us for free hot lunch on saturdays when school lunches and senior meals are not available. Over 24,000 meals have been served, 3) nutrition education: the chopchop cooking club is offered for families with children. The club promotes family meal preparation and healthy eating in partnership with uw-health, and 4) business incubator: the kitchen is rented at below-market rates to local start-up food-based businesses. We are currently fully subscribed with five businesses using the kitchen when bpnn's kitchen programs are not operating. Revenue earned helps pay our utility bills.