By Hannah Becker
The River Food Pantry

On Saturday, June 10, Pick ‘n Save and the Madison Police Department teamed up to collect food items for local food pantries. Second Harvest partnered Pick ‘n Save, 2502 Shopko Dr., with The River Food Pantry for this year’s campaign.

“Too many of our neighbors, especially on the Northside, are not able to afford the food they need to feed their family,” The River’s Executive Director Charles McLimans said. “It’s our mission at The River to make sure no one in our community goes hungry. So we were thrilled to partner with the Madison Police, our friends at Pick ‘n Save and everyone who participated to serve and nourish our community.”

North District Neighborhood Resource Officer David Dexheimer parked his vehicle in front of the Pick ‘n Save store to collect $5 and $10 pre-made bags of groceries.

“It truly was a pleasure to help out with the Roundy’s/Pick ‘n Save food drive,” Officer Dexheimer said. “I was struck by the outpouring of goodwill and generous donations from our community. We really did ‘Stuff the Squad.’”

Children loved stopping by to say hello to Officer Dexheimer and sit in his vehicle. As it happened, Leah, a face painter, was also outside the store that day to give free face paintings to shoppers.

Thanks to the generous shoppers at Pick ‘n Save, Officer Dexheimer filled his vehicle with more than 350 pounds of food and delivered it to the pantry. “The Madison Police Department is very happy to support the great work of The River Food Pantry,” Officer Dexheimer shared. “Partnerships like these are vitally important to keeping Madison a safe and healthy community.”

To learn more about The River Food Pantry and ways you can get involved, visit riverfoodpantry.org.