 Welcome to Love Where You Live, your monthly showcase of the best of Sheboygan County from the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce. I am Deja Martina's executive director of the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce. And with Thanksgiving right around the corner, I wanted to spend some time talking about organizations we are thankful for in our communities. And so we have invited Patrick Boyle from the Sheboygan County Food Bank to join us this morning. So welcome Patrick. How are you? I'm fantastic. Thanks for having me. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about the food bank and what we do in the community. Absolutely, and we're excited to learn more about it and find out ways that we can help and help serve our neighbors as you are doing. So, well, let's just jump right in. Tell us a little bit more about your experience with the food bank and how long you've been there. Yeah, I've been here at the food bank for about a little less than two years. You know, it's been a great experience. It's a wonderful organization. The organization's been around for 36 years, but not until a couple years ago when people like Louis Gentine, the CEO, or the Sargento family and the Gentines and some other key players in the community got together. The United Way was a part of that discussion. They got together and they said, you know what? We really need to do something about hunger in Sheboygan County. It's something that wasn't talked about necessarily for many, many years. The food bank existed, but it was a very, very grassroots organization. Liz Cole, who is our food bank manager now, she led the organization out of her home, out of her garage. We would store food in people's trunks, wherever we could put it. So now, really, we call it kind of the food bank 2.0, where we have a good investment in the food bank and we're able to really reach out to the communities. We work with food pantries. We serve about 14 food pantries that are in our network pantry, we call it. They can order food from us. We deliver it all to them throughout the county. It's all free. And they just have to meet certain requirements. So it's been a wonderful experience. We have about a 10,000 square foot facility on the north side of Sheboygan. So the way it works is we store and collect food and we get donated food. We purchase food. We get a lot of donated food from places like Sargento, Sartori, Johnsonville, Masters Gallery, Old Wisconsin Sausage. They give us the food, so we distribute it to the different pantries, who then serve the different clients in the community. There's about, I'd say, any given day, there's around 11,000 people in Sheboygan County that are considered food insecure. So they go to the different pantries, depending on where they live. And the pantries serve them. They do an intake. They get to know them. They come back. Hopefully it's just one time, but some people are suffering from mental illness or they're disabled or they've just lost a job or they've got huge medical expenses and they need to support. And we're there to support them. And so it's a really great organization. We only have four people in our team, but almost all of the pantries are led by volunteers. So it's really, really touching to see the volunteers and all the work that they do from engaging the clients, getting to know them, to lifting heavy boxes and all those kinds of things. So it's just a fantastic organization. Very good. And I know you mentioned the term food insecure and kind of some of the different clients that might be participating. But tell us a little bit more, because I think sometimes we question, what does food insecure really mean? And is it really in our communities? I think that's a question you probably hear often. Does this really happen here? Yeah, because you don't think of Sheboygan as having a huge hunger problem. When I first learned of the position, I really was like, was it a rural poverty? What's going on? The more you look and really your eyes and your thoughts are awakened by seeing what's going on. So about 11,000 people on any given day are suffering from hunger. And food insecurity just essentially means not enough access to food, whether financially or whatever, whatever is going on with you. It doesn't mean that they're always hungry, but if you've ever experienced, okay, I wonder where my next meal is coming from. That's a heavy load. It is. And there's many things going on with people who need the services. And we're here to not judge. We're here to pick them up, to elevate them, and to really help them and to really love them in many ways that some of them haven't experienced that before in their lives. Okay. Very good. And I know you keep saying 11,000. That's a pretty big number. Our county is not that big. No, it's about 10%. So that's a pretty significant. So really, you know, if you look on either, in either direction down your street, there's probably somebody right in your own neighborhood that has food insecure right now. Yeah, it doesn't matter if they, you know, are renting, if they have a house or if they have what appears to be a nice car, you kind of wonder what's going on with them. Everyone has a story. Right. And everyone who comes to a pantry has got a story. And there's, you just don't know what's going on with their lives. Absolutely. And one of the hardest things within the food bank business, and as a person, I think, is to not judge people. So you don't know what's going on, what happened to them. Maybe they've got a $100,000 medical bill. We ran it to somebody who drove up in a, a nicer car and, you know, somebody was saying, well, they shouldn't be at a food pantry. Well, it turns out that it was, they borrowed the car, wasn't their car. They borrowed it to pick up some groceries for her, herself and her mom who was suffering from a depilitating battle with cancer. Wow. And, you know, so you just never know what's going on with people. So our job is to really treat these, the clients and the people that we serve with dignity and respect. And, you know, it's just an amazing organization. Absolutely. And I know I was excited to spend some time with you because of my, in my previous role before coming to Sheboygan and I think a lot of the folks who are familiar with the show have kind of been here in my journey over the past 11 months, if you will. And I was, I was very involved in the food pantry in Crystal Lake, Illinois. And like you said, you know, you hear those questions or comments or judgments, if you will, you know, well, they live here. Why, you know, how can they live here? How can they have a car like this? And even where we were, we found a lot of elderly folks when we don't take care of our mom and dad. Right. And they are living on limited resources. They have to make decisions on do I pay my rent or my gas bill or do I buy food? Elderly disabled people. Children. Children. Children, the food insecure rate for Sheboygan children is greater than adults. It's one in six. Okay. The one in six children are considered food insecure in the Sheboygan County, which is, you know, it's just not acceptable. And, you know, we're here to, you know, thanks to the generosity of the community, we're here to really try to make a difference and improve their lives. Absolutely. So I know we've talked a little bit about your role and, and, you know, kind of what, where you're at in the community. And, you know, if you think about how many pounds of food, or, you know, probably, I guess to give our viewers an idea of what, how many pounds of food you guys are going through maybe in a month's time or a year's time. Sure. Sure. We distribute about 67,000 pounds of food a month. Wow. Okay. We serve about 3,000 families per month through the different pantries. So again, we supply the food to the pantries and the pantries and their volunteers deal directly with the clients that need food. Over a million dollars valued of the food. We try to stress healthy food. Okay. We don't accept sugar-based products anymore. And really we have a healthy food policy where, you know, we really have strict guidelines of what we accept and what we distribute. So, you know, we're trying to make a difference in the education of good nutrition and trying to live that the way it should be. And it's really interesting how the community has reacted to that. And it's been a very positive change, I think, for the community. And we've got to keep going and keep trying. Very good. So what do you need from us? What are ways, I know that you guys are not at the food bank necessarily directly working with clients. And that's more, you know, going into the food pantries. But if you look at the whole big picture, what are ways that the community can be involved or volunteer or give back or serve our neighbors in that way? All of that, yeah. And thanks for asking that. Obviously, donations were a 501c3 nonprofit. We get no government support. So, you know, number one, we need money to keep the operation alive. Our budget is about a half a million dollars, 10,000 square foot facility to manage all this. But really I'd say the first thing that we're not judged. Like we've talked about, just don't judge and just try to be helpful. Try to be positive and not be negative. But community food drives are really helpful. You know, making spirit sprite is our biggest one, which is generally on 80,000 pounds of food we get from that, which is fantastic. The Boy Scout food drive, the postal drive in May. Many companies and organizations have their own independent community food drives. They work with us. We give them the boxes. We tell people what we need. You know, usually it's peanut butter, pears, canned fruit, tuna fish, things like that. Pretty much anything but canned vegetables, because we have so many of those. We use them, but we try to be more specific with what we're looking for. We don't want you to just empty your closet and give us two-year-olds, Kansas Bams. But even that is great. So really, those are the main things and really spreading the awareness that hunger is an issue. The economy is fantastic. Unemployment is almost done to nothing. But there are still people suffering. And we need to catch them and elevate them and take care of them as best as we can. Because that's what we should do as humans. And I think people want to be, Sheboygan County, to be known as a caring and loving place. Absolutely. I agree with that. And really, you said raise the awareness and not judge. But also too, I know one thing that we used to be really mindful of is if you see people who you think might need help, spread that message as well, that there are services, that there is our support, that they can be taking advantage of. Yeah, you don't have to suffer. And we're trying to do now our latest initiative is when we meet the clients at the food pantries, we're trying to sign them up for food chair, which is the old food stamps. If they're eligible for it, it's a federal program. They should use it. So it would take less pressure on the food bank. And it's a federal nutrition program that they can use to go to the grocery store or whatever. It's really, really helpful to people. And just to spread that word that that's available for people who need the support. Very good. So before I know we're running short on time, so anything else that we should know about the food bank or? No, just that we appreciate the community and the community has been very, very generous. We need to keep that up. The corporations in Sheboygan have been fantastic. We want to increase the individual giving and individual awareness. Many people don't know they exist still. We've been around 36 years. So spread the word. If you want a tour of the food bank or if you want to a church or other organization or just individually you want to check more, learn more about us. Give us a call, stop in. We'll throw up the show what we're doing to you. Perfect. Well, I appreciate that. Thank you so much, Patrick. Thank you. It's been fun just learning a little bit more about, you know, organizations within our community that are here to serve our neighbors and serve our brothers and sisters in need. And I think if we all did just a little bit more of that and some of us do a phenomenal job, but if we all just did a little bit more of that, we'd probably find less people that were in need. So, continue to fight the good fight and thank you so much for your time today and I will be touring the food bank with you as soon as I can. Sounds good. Look forward to it. Thank you. Thank you so much, Patrick. After the break, Jerry Plend, chair of Making Spirits Bright will be here, so stay tuned. Welcome back to Love Where You Live. Our next guest is Jerry Plain, chair of Making Spirits Bright. So, I'm so glad you could join us today. How are you, Jerry? I'm great. Thank you for having me. Yes, we are so excited. So, I'm here to talk about what happens in our community at Evergreen Park each year. You guys kind of create this winter wonderland of Christmas lights or holiday lights, if you will. So, I'd love to learn a little bit more about that and what we can look forward to this season. So, how long has that been happening in Evergreen Park? Making Spirits Bright is in its seventh year. Okay. We had our first opening in 2012 on a much smaller scale than we see it today. Okay. Had limited time that we were allowed to be in the park. So, we've grown not only in the amount of displays that we have, but in the presence that we have. We opened the Friday After Thanksgiving and now run through December 31st. Oh, wow. Okay. So, this year, that relates to 38 nights that we are available. That's a long time. Yes, it is. Yeah. A lot of work goes into that. A lot of work and it requires a lot of volunteers. I can imagine. Last year, we estimated that we had approximately 1,700 folks involved in one facet or another. Holy cow. And that related into about 12,000 hours of volunteer time. So, certainly a community involved event. Absolutely. And you're talking that's over, well, the displays open for five to six weeks-ish, but you guys actually start preparing weeks ahead of opening day as well. I always say we really only take two weeks off. Okay. We need to be out of the park every year by the 10th of January. So, the rest of that month, we have a celebration party when it's all taken down and then we give ourselves about a two-week breather and then it's time to start regrouping because you have to create a budget obviously and a plan for the new year. So, those of us on the steering committee don't get much of a break. Okay. So, how long have you been involved in this project? I'm actually, I guess in most circles, considered one of the co-founders. Okay. Judy Slaney and I had attended a Rotary District conference learning about a similar type of light show that had just experienced it first year over in Washington County. There was a breakout session at that particular conference and they showed a video of their light show and one thing led to another. She was excited. I was excited and thought, wouldn't this be great to do something similar in Sheboygan. So, it took about a year or a little bit better than that to get it all put together and raise sponsors and things of that nature. So, the rest is history as we say. There you go. And it's a lovely display and it's a lot of fun and the community gets to enjoy it. But you guys do it for a bigger reason. So, tell me a little bit more about why. Where's the whys behind that? Rotary organization is all about service and giving back to the communities that we reside in. And so, we consider this a huge service project, not just to the community to offer a place for entertainment for families and friends, but to benefit the Sheboygan Food Bank. Hunger is not something that seems to be going away despite what our economy is doing. And so, this is our way of helping that organization to collect items for the various industries that are part of the Sheboygan Food Bank. They have some additional partners now from what I understand also in their new organization. So, to date we have collected about 375,000 pounds since the inception of our organization. We do not charge an admission fee, making this affordable to anybody to come, but we strongly encourage people to really donate items for the Food Bank. And you guys will accept food items, non-perishables, and money, is that correct? Yes. And there probably needs a little bit clarification. The items certainly all go to the Food Bank. But the cash donations that people make at the park don't necessarily get earmarked for the Sheboygan Food Bank. We are a non-profit, so we need cash dollars every year to operate, obviously. Absolutely. We are in the same big warehouse as the Sheboygan Food Bank is right now, so we have that as an expense for about 12,000 square feet. Okay. And then, of course, the maintenance and the further development of the lights. Right. So, cash donations, in addition to sponsored donations, that we get are what help us make that happen. Exactly. That absolutely makes sense. That being said, though, we have made some cash donations as well to the Sheboygan Food Bank as has been permissible. Okay. Very good. So, I know we're talking about lights, and you said, you know, as far as volunteers, roughly 1,700 kind of participate in this annually. How many lights are you guys putting up over there? We're estimating this year that we are up to about 350,000. Wow. Now, that does not make us the light show with the largest amount of lights, because our light show is a little unique, we figure. It isn't so much about how many trees can we throw strings of lights in, but creating displays that use a lot of cord or rope lighting, in addition to 100 string light string, for example. So, it keeps that count down a little bit, but where we excel is in the motion that we put to most of our displays. There's very few that don't have some moving parts on them, which is all choreographed to music. A number of different songs that play throughout your experience as you drive through. So, as we look at a lot of our other Rotarian friends throughout the state that have similar light shows, we feel ours is very unique in that fashion. Okay. Well, we're in Sheboygan County, so we're just saying it's probably the best. Absolutely. So, I have to ask, I put up Christmas lights every year, I pull out strings of lights out of storage that were probably thrown in a box at the end of the season when you were tired of it, and inevitably there's always one that goes out and then you're playing with strings of lights that has to get frustrating. How do you guys overcome those obstacles when you're dealing with 350,000 lights? We use all commercial lights. Okay. They're ordered from companies who handle primarily LEDs. We started with LEDs right from the get-go. Oh, okay. And quite frankly, very seldom have we had to replace strings, which is huge. Considering we're now in our seventh year, some of these displays we had in year one, and still no replacement. So really, I need to not be cheap is what you're saying. And by commercial grade, LED lights, if I don't want to be frustrated every season. Yes. Often at the end of the season we'll get phone calls or emails saying, you know, I have this display or I have these lights, would you care to use them? And we have to graciously say no, because they would not last. Right. You know, as we know in our own Christmas trees or wreaths or our outdoor lighting. Absolutely. Right. In the peak of things they tend to male function and then it's not such a great experience. It's not. I tell, it's not. Not at all. So, what are some ways, I mean, obviously you guys are always looking for volunteers, but if I were interested or if somebody that's watching today would be interested in participating or helping, what does that look like and how could they get involved? There are oodles of ways. I referenced our steering committee. We're always looking for new people on a variety of committees there. That's a longer commitment obviously, because as I previously said, maybe we only take two weeks off. Typically a committee will meet once a month and then the chairs of those committees have a separate meeting just as the steering committee. That being said, during the event or even before the event we're always looking for people to help us with setup. Last couple of years we encouraged other non-profits to help us for which we pay them a small stipend then for their help and they can use that then how they see fit. It's a rotary promoted event, but never enough of our own Rotarians are available or can get involved for whatever reason. So this has worked out very well for us the last two years. We work all through the summer on our maintenance and our construction of our display, so if that's something you want to be involved with, we're there every Tuesday and Thursday starting in June on through this time of the year and you come as you can. Some people are extremely regular, others maybe they're coming once every couple of weeks or whatever, but again another way of being involved. And then we have many, many groups that help while we're open. An organization, a business, a church might pool 8 to 16 people together on a given night and then they're in the park accepting the pantry donations or handing out our event booklet and accepting the cash donations or helping with the gate traffic. And then when it's all over there's that take down process which is very similar to the setup kind of thing. It's just now we're taking everything down and getting it back to the warehouse for winter storage. We also have activities over at the Corey View Center across the street and those ladies are open on the weekends all through our event and take volunteers over there four or five on a given night to help sell concessions or rethraffled tickets or the trolley tickets. You can board the trolley there and ride it through the park on Friday setters and Sundays so they need a certain amount of volunteers there as well. Absolutely and I did not realize that might be new obviously I don't know everything about how everything works yet so that's really good information. There's another component, all these volunteers during the park we have a 53 foot semi trailer that's our headquarters fully stocked with an oven and a refrigerator and a microwave and we feed our volunteers in there on a nightly basis. So we have area restaurants that donate the food and then we have hosts and hostesses in there that just kind of get everything ready if it's soup to be heated up or they bake cookies in there every night so the aroma is something else when you walk in. I'm just going to come hang out there. There you go. Yeah, so you can see there's a lot of ways to get involved and we just suggest everybody go to our website makingspiritsbrite.com and look for the contacts and somebody would be in touch with you if you have an interest. Very good, well wonderful thank you so much and that's a lot of good information so remind us again it starts right after Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving. November 23rd this year. Perfect and what hours? From 5 to 9 p.m. Evergreen Park and you can come drive through be sure to bring donations for the food bank, be sure to bring cash donations to help support the light show and then it runs through, you said December 31st. Correct. Okay, so very good and if you are looking for opportunities to volunteer, ways to get your organizations, your companies, your churches involved, certainly reach out to Jerry or visit makingspiritsbrite.com and I'm sure they can find some places for you to lean in and help out in the community but just thanks again for joining me today and we're so glad to have, this is such a great resource for the community and such a huge draw. I know that I literally moved here last year at the end of November and driving through with my family who I just moved to Sheboygan with driving through Evergreen Park was one of our very first experiences in Sheboygan. Oh how cool. So when I was thinking who can I have and what does this look like, I was so excited that you were able to join us today and just to kind of share a little bit more about the back story and the cause and it is certainly again one of our first experiences as a family and I'm sure it'll continue to be an annual experience for myself and my kids. So thank you for that thank you for your give back to the community and your involvement and thanks so much for joining us today. Please be sure to visit Evergreen Park during the season and say thank you to Jerry and the other 1699 roughly volunteers that they get involved and you know this is just a couple of ways that you can really get involved and help make Sheboygan County some place better and we're looking forward to seeing everybody there so have a good day. Thanks. Thank you.