Since 2016 Dennie Petersen has given over 1,000 hours of volunteer service to The River Food Pantry. Dennie has been a lead volunteer with their mobile lunch program, MUNCH (Madison Unites to Nourish Children at Home), which provides an average of 419 healthy lunches on non-school days to children, teens and their caretakers in eight low-income Northside neighborhoods. Since MUNCH began in 2016, Dennie has helped with every aspect of the program, including lunch production, distribution, driving the van, volunteer training and more. 

A true change maker, Dennie has not only formed MUNCH into the impactful program that it is today, but she has also helped end hunger in our community for thousands of food-insecure families. Dennie has spent countless hours volunteering during Fridays, weekends and nearly every day of summer break. She always arrives early and stays late to make sure everything is in order. Dennie has helped streamline the production and distribution process. Many times, Dennie has distributed MUNCH lunches with a less than ideal number of volunteers but somehow manages to get it all done so that hungry kids get their lunches. She has also served on The River’s Volunteer Advisory Committee and participated in food drives and fundraising.