Local Businesses Collect, Deliver Thousands of Pounds of Food to New Berlin Food Pantry

Brookfield, Wis. – A coalition of local businesses helped ensure a true Thanksgiving for people in need by delivering several thousand pounds of food and other items to the New Berlin Food Pantry Wednesday.

Nine large barrels of canned goods, boxed dinners, cleaning products, diapers and personal hygiene items were collected in a month-long drive at the nine businesses in Brookfield, New Berlin and Elm Grove. Gift cards and cash were also donated for the food pantry.

This was the second year for the businesses’ joint effort, which was led by Grounds Maintenance Services and Charlie’s East Coast Hair Designs. An inaugural collection in 2014 delivered more than two tons of food and other goods.

The delivery bolsters the New Berlin Food Pantry’s supplies during months of high demand, said Jeanne Holden, its director. The 2014 collection, which involved 11 businesses, was the largest single donation in the pantry’s history.

“We look forward to this donation every year,” Holden said. “We are so grateful for all the people who donate to help those who need it.” Both food and non-food items are vital to households operating on already very-thin budgets.

The pantry, 14750 W. Cleveland Ave., serves up to 140 households monthly from New Berlin, Brookfield and Elm Grove. Boxes of food are given away Wednesday afternoons. The number of recipients keeps growing, Holden said.

Todd Ruedt, a Brookfield native and owner of Grounds Maintenance Services, praised the business coalition and all donors not only for the massive collection, but for raising awareness that hunger exists locally. Some businesses filled multiple collection barrels, which hold 300 pounds on average.

“We don’t think about people going hungry in Brookfield, New Berlin and Elm Grove,” Ruedt said. “Let’s be honest: It’s never really talked about. Everyone who joined in or donated to this effort can be proud that, together, we are helping the neediest among us … who are also our neighbors.”

Besides Grounds Maintenance Services and Charlie’s East Coast Hair Designs, participating businesses were:
• ActionCOACH Business Coaching, 13150 Watertown Plank Road, Elm Grove
• First Watch, 17550 W. Bluemound Road, Brookfield
• Jazzercise, 17800 W. Bluemound Road, Suite Q, Brookfield
• Lyle Husar Designs, 17395 W. Bluemound Road, Brookfield
• Movin’ & Lubin’, 2350 S. Commerce Drive, New Berlin
• Skiin, 21675 Moreland Blvd., Waukesha
• The Oilerie Brookfield, 17125C W. Bluemound Road, Brookfield

“As local businesses, we are extremely fortunate to operate in communities filled with generous, supportive people,” said Charlie Bianco of Charlie’s East Coast Hair Designs. “We hope that everyone who participated in this effort knows that what might have been a small gesture for them, probably made a huge difference in someone else’s life.”