School's Out! Summer Food Fight:
Join Local Businesses to Stock the Food Pantry |
School's out, but our first ever Summer Food Fight is now in session! Hunger doesn't take a summer vacation. This friendly food drive competition between local businesses will help us keep the Sun Prairie Food Pantry shelves stocked through the summer months.
This effort comes at a critical time. The pantry faces record demand that continues to rise. Concurrently, the amount of items being donated and recovered has decreased from previous years, prices for certain staples have increased significantly, and there are less discounted options available as suppliers struggle. As a result, we are using more pantry funds than in prior years to purchase necessary items to stock the shelves and keep up with demand. This diminishes funds to keep the pantry running efficiently and to improve and expand current services. Our pantry staff and volunteers are working diligently to diversify funding, find new suppliers for recovered items, and to winnow products that we stock, but what it comes down to is, we need your help to meet this demand. (*Click graphic below to expand content). |
Last year, July was our pantry's busiest month. Yet donations to food pantries are slowest in summer. Your donation makes a huge difference!
That brings us back to our Schools Out! Summer Food Fight competition. Here's how it works: our challengers, (participating businesses), will collect food and personal care items from June 12th through July 10th. On the final day they will deliver their donations to Sunshine Place for weighing. The business with the highest total lbs/employee will be crowned the winner! Cash donations are also welcome and will be calculated to count toward the totals of whichever business you choose.
Learn more and make a food donation at a local business TODAY to help us continue to meet the needs of local families.
Know all you need to know? You can donate food online right now and credit your chosen challenger!
A HUGE thank you to our participating businesses for partnering with us to keep food on the tables of local families: Ager Chiropractic Wellness Center, Bank of Sun Prairie, Independent Pharmacy Cooperative, One Community Bank, QBE North America, Royle Printing, Sunny Nutrition, Sun Prairie Utilities, TST Engineered Coating Solutions, The Insurance Center, Pro-Active Engineering, and Dupaco Community Credit Union.
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Save the Date for our Sunshine Celebration |
Mark your Calendars!
Join us on Thursday, September 18 for our Sunshine Celebration fundraising event. Guests will enjoy a fun evening of live music, good food, cocktails, games, raffles, a silent auction, and more to benefit Sunshine Place!
Sunshine Place relies on proceeds from this event to sustain vital programs that help families and individuals facing hardship access food, housing, and other necessities for stability. Come support a worthy cause and have some fun while doing it!
Stay tuned to our event webpage for ticket information coming soon!
Interested in supporting this event? Become an event sponsor.
For more information about Sunshine Celebration contact Susan Schmidt at (608) 478-5556 or susan@sunshineplace.org |
We need YOU to Volunteer at Our Food Pantry! |
People rely on our pantry to get by and to thrive, and our volunteers are the backbone of the pantry. They dedicate so much time, care, and compassion to every task they take on. And as the video below shows, they have fun doing it! |
Interested in becoming a food pantry volunteer but want to learn more? Good news! We are having a Volunteer Open House on Wednesday, July 9th, from 4-7 pm, at 18 Rickel Road, Sun Prairie, where our pantry is located. Take a tour, learn more about volunteer roles, and ask any questions you might have.
Can't make the event? No problem! Visit our volunteer page or reach out anytime to our Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator, Leticia, at volunteer@sunshineplace.org, or (608) 977-2592. She can answer any questions you might have and find you the perfect fit for volunteering. THANK YOU to all current and prospective volunteers, we know your time is valuable! |
Neighbors Helping Neighbors |
We are so grateful to the groups, businesses, and individuals who have recently volunteered, donated, and organized drives or events to support our mission. The impact of Sunshine Place programs is only possible because of our community’s generosity and commitment to helping one another.
Below are just a few highlights showcasing recent support. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see more stories of impact and kindness. |
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The Happy Hikers 4H Club of Sun Prairie organized a food drive that brought in an impressive 105 pounds of food for the Sunshine Place food pantry! They added a personal touch by writing heartfelt notes of encouragement, which will be shared with pantry clients by our volunteers. Thank you for spreading kindness and making a difference in our community! |
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Thank you to Tim O'Brien Homes for their generous $2,000 donation to Sunshine Place through their Fit for a Cause initiative! Our Executive Director, Ann, was honored to accept the check and give a brief presentation about our mission and how this contribution will make an impact for those in our community who turn to us for help with food, housing, and other vital resources. |
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Summer lunches for kids have started, and we couldn’t make it happen without our sponsors! Thank you so much to the following teams for sponsoring and helping put together our June lunches:
Our very own Sunshine Place volunteers, The Sun Prairie Lions Club, Sun Prairie Utilities, Forever Home Real Estate, our teacher group from C.H. Bird Elementary, and Next Generation Design. We couldn't do this without you! |
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Thank you to Atlantis Valley Foods, LLC for their generous donations of "ready-to-eat" sandwiches and snacks and for donating a cooler so we can highlight their excellent food. Our shoppers love the convenience and we are excited to partner with you! |
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We are so grateful for the groups that provided volunteers and food to serve at our weekly Sunshine Supper free community meal. Recent sponsors include Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Rooted Right Ministries, Bristol Lutheran, City of Sun Prairie, and QBE! |
A record number of families and individuals are turning to us for help with food, housing, and other essential needs. Your support ensures our neighbors can find hope and help at Sunshine Place when they need it most. Thank you! |
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