The River Food Pantry is a treasure on the Northside. There are plans to expand their amazing services into a new 32,500 square foot building, which will be near its current location. The new space will continue the services that people across Dane County have come to rely on, as well as expand networking and community partnerships.
The primary goal of The River will still focus on improving food access and nutrition, but with the expansion will also be able to more strongly support a range of services that intersect with food insecurity. These may include housing assistance, healthcare consultations, counseling, workforce training, legal aid, financial planning, nutrition education, clothing distribution, tutoring programs, and much more.
The new facility will triple the operating and storage space. It will include an all-electric commercial kitchen, an indoor dining space, as well as multi-use spaces for community collaboration services. There will be a covered drive-through area for folks to pick up groceries, as well as after-hours food lockers.
The new building will include sustainable features like solar panels and geothermal heating. It will also have a large processing space to increase the capacity for food recovery. The River currently saves nearly 1.7 million pounds of food annually that would otherwise go to waste. Current programs like the Munch Mobile and satellite mini-pantries will continue and potentially expand as well.
The River is community at its best. They are continually developing and increasing services to meet the needs of folks across all of Dane County. This expansion is an expansion of love.
Please feel free to contact me with any concerns or issues. I am happy to help. I can be reached at 608-335-6827 or ritt.michele@countyofdane.com.
