Most of us know what it feels like to be hungry. Your stomach growls a little bit and you head to the refrigerator to get a little something to hold you over until your next meal.

For about 1 in 9 of us in southwestern Wisconsin that next meal isn’t always there. That means 8 in 9 of us probably don’t know what it’s like to have to water down our food just to make it stretch another day. Or to have to put a crumpled up piece of paper in our son’s brown paper lunch bag so it looks like he has something to eat and he’s not so embarrassed at school. That’s real hunger!

Since 1986 Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin has put more than 100 million meals on the tables of the 1 in 8 who are facing hunger in southwestern Wisconsin. They work together with hundreds of local hunger-relief charities to provide the peace-of-mind people get when they know they have enough food. They are also a member of Feeding America, a nationwide network of member food banks and the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization.

Despite the millions of meals they’ve been able to provide as a result of our generous donors over the years, there is still a gap between the number of meals we provide and the number of meals needed.

That’s where the ACHE-Wisconsin Chapter Board and LDP co-hort made a difference by giving their time! On November 1, the group spent the afternoon at Second Harvest, sorting and packaging sweet potatoes and apples. They left Second Harvest knowing that together, we can end hunger!