Kinship Community Food Center Fosters a ‘We’ Culture

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Riverwest Food Pantry has served its neighborhood residents and beyond since 1979, offering food assistance, crisis counseling and other vital services to the community. In April 2022, the organization rebranded as Kinship Community Food Center (924 E. Clarke St.) to better reflect its mission and the people they serve.

“Our roots are in Riverwest and we owe a lot to the neighborhood, but all of the people we serve, along with people who volunteer here, aren’t all from Riverwest,” says Amanda Fahrendorf, senior communications associate at Kinship. “We want to talk about it more broadly for people that come from other places.”

Kinship serves residents of the zip codes 53202, 53203, 53211, 53212 and 53217. Anyone can come on a first-time basis, notes Fahrendorf, but afterwards they will direct people to resources closer to where they live. There are no income requirements to use Kinship’s services.

Building Community

Adopting the term “food center” in lieu of “food pantry” exemplifies how the center attracts different demographics who use food to unite and build community. “We call ourselves the community of generosity to reframe the idea of giving and receiving help,” Fahrendorf  says. “Nobody is so poor where they still can’t give something of themselves, and nobody is so rich that they still can’t receive.”

Programming includes distributing food through Shop, a fresh food market. It is arranged akin to a grocery store and focuses on healthier food options such as produce, which can be expensive and is not easily accessible for some people. Nutritious dairy items, donated by a local partnering business, are also available, along with non-perishable goods.

“After somebody gets checked in, they can walk around and pick out what they need or want. That’s why we’re a food center and not a food pantry. We do not pick out food for other people, or make then choose things they don’t like or aren’t healthy for them,” Fahrendorf explains. “We focus on creating a dignified experience.”

Kinship receives donations through partnerships with the Hunger Task Force and Feeding America, along with local business. They receive donations from individuals, and from work groups, churches and schools that host food drives.

Grow Program

Through Kinship’s Grow program, approximately 12,000 pounds of fresh produce per year is grown at 11 hoop houses located on land donated by Maglio Companies, a Milwaukee- based importer and distributor of fresh produce. Hoop houses help extend the growing season and lend to production of cold crops such as kale.

The Feast meal program invites shoppers, volunteers and donors to collaborate and eat meals together as a community. The program takes place once per month, usually on Wednesday. “The focus is to build friendships between people among food spaces, which are unique mutual ground. We bring together demographics of people that are unlikely to meet in any other circumstances,” says Fahrendorf.

Food insecurity is often accompanied by factors such as housing, employment or transportation obstacles. Kinship’s Stride program offers crisis assistance and mentorship. Kinship has specially trained and educated volunteers that understand systemic situations behind food insecurity to help guide people toward helpful resources. Stride volunteers also help guests navigate paperwork or make phone calls to arrange medical appointments.

Kinship’s Mission Internship is comprised of young adults that are Riverwest residents and understand the needs of the community. They volunteer a year of service, similar to AmeriCorps, to be a source of outreach for Kinship’s guests. “They work in all areas of programming to foster friendships and love among each other and the community.

Volunteers that work at Kinship come from Riverwest and surrounding areas, including Milwaukee’s suburbs. The organization also attracts volunteers from school and work groups, and college students seeking service hours. Many of Kinship’s shoppers also volunteer.

“It’s really important to us that community members take ownership of the food service in their community,” Fahrendorf says. “We believe in not an ‘us-versus-them’ mentality but rather a ‘we’ mindset. Some people remark that they cannot tell who is shopping and who is volunteering.”

For more information, visit kinshipmke.org.