By Joe Mingle
Healthy Food For All

Healthy Food For All (HFFA) works 24 hours, 365 days a year trying to prevent surplus produce and prepared food from going to waste. We give away tons of food every month but still barely scratch the surface of what we could share. With perishable food, the issue is distribution. With other critical products, the problem is supply.

In response to the pandemic, a hallmark of HFFA’s distribution has become organizing pop-up pantries in the heart of low-income neighborhoods. We load up the cargo van with all kinds of food, then connect with existing social networks, who get the food to neighbors most in need. While everyone greatly appreciates the food, we also get requests for diapers, wipes and other personal care items.

“In all my years working in food access and security, there’s always been a huge, unmet demand for even basic stuff like soap and toothpaste,” noted HFFA co-founder Chris Brockel. “If you’re a young mom struggling to feed your family, the last thing you need is to worry about running out of diapers or other necessities.”

In response to this long existing and now rapidly increasing need, HFFA has been running a small side hustle collecting donations of diapers, tampons and other personal care items. In recent months, HFFA has distributed thousands of diapers and a small mountain of other goods from Taft Street to Darbo to Sun Prairie and beyond.

While personal hygiene products are not part of HFFA’s regular line, we’re already out delivering food so bringing other needed products seemed a natural thing. In the future, HFFA hopes to spin off a new group focused more specifically on the personal care needs of women and children. For more information on how you can get involved, email minglejoseph@gmail.com.