Paul's Pantry in Green Bay. (Fox 11 Online)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A Green Bay food pantry is celebrating its 40th anniversary during its busiest year on record.
Paul’s Pantry officially opened its doors on Valentine’s Day in 1984.
The pantry held a ceremony Wednesday with volunteers and community leaders.
The pantry was founded by Leo Frigo who had retired as president of Frigo Cheese. He wanted to devote the remainder of his life by helping those in need. He realized the unsellable but edible food being thrown out by area businesses, could benefit people in need in the community.
Over the past 40 years, Paul’s Pantry has seen more than 1.5 million food visits. Pantry volunteers have logged more than 3.3 million hours, handling over 174 million pounds of food.
“This is an opportunity for us to say thank you for everything you’ve done over the last 40 years, to our volunteers, to our donors, all people of goodwill in this community who quietly go about doing good and make Paul’s Pantry what it is. Because of your efforts, this little old pantry in Green Bay, Wisconsin is the largest food pantry in the entire state and it is one of the largest food pantries in the entire country,” said Paul’s Pantry assistant executive director, Bob Hornacek.
Currently, Paul’s Pantry is serving approximately 240 households shopping per day. That’s the most the pantry has served in its history.
Due to high inflation, especially on grocery items, food pantries across the nation are experiencing an increase in demand.
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