We Love the Volunteer Center of Greater Milwaukee

The Volunteer Center of Greater Milwaukee is “Milwaukee’s primary resource for volunteerism." It helps recruit volunteers for the Gathering’s meal programs, along with other volunteer-based nonprofits in the area. The Center also provides area nonprofits with countless resources. They do great work behind the scenes and we think it’s time they are recognized.

Jessica Tabbutt is the program coordinator at the Volunteer Center of Greater Milwaukee. Tabbutt runs the Center’s website, speaks at community service fairs, corresponds with prospective volunteers and works in creative ways to promote volunteering throughout Milwaukee. If that wasn’t enough, Tabbutt still finds time to volunteer at partner agencies. 

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“One of my personal goals is to really get to know the agencies and volunteer opportunities I’m sending volunteers to.”

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Tabbutt’s experiences with the Gathering’s meal program have been enjoyable. “Every one of the guests and fellow volunteers were so nice to be around. I pointed out to a friend after the experience, you wouldn’t even know it was 7:30am while you’re there. Everyone is chipper, in a good mood and excited to be there!”

Tabbutt also interacted with many of the Gathering’s long term volunteers including Robert and Yolanda, Marquette High School students, and more.

“Yolanda told me that the week before I was there was her one year anniversary of volunteering at the Breakfast Program. Along with her, many of the others were returning volunteers as well. I think that it’s very special when volunteers love being there so much they return time and time again.”

The Gathering is so thankful for our volunteers, whether they can come once, twice, or have been volunteering for a year. The work of Jessica Tabbutt, the Volunteer Center of Greater Milwaukee, and other community organizations strengthens our committed volunteer network. We cannot thank you all enough!

Connect with the Volunteer Center of Milwaukee.

Volunteer Spotlight: East Troy High School National Honors Society

The National Honors Society (NHS) at East Troy High School has been volunteering with the Gathering for over 15 years, and in the words of student Krystal Jacobs, “We have a great experience every time!” East Troy High is one of many high schools that volunteers with the Gathering, but, unlike many other schools, East Troy students travel over 30 miles to make it to the Gathering’s dinner program. The commute may be limiting for many, but for East Troy National Honors Society students—it is a welcome challenge.

Jacobs explained that in order to transport 15 students to volunteer, they needed to get their own bus. The NHS students rallied together and fundraised to afford the bus. These fundraisers included creative opportunities such as: Duct Tape A Teacher, where students paid for the opportunity to duct tape their teachers to a wall (an idea they found on Pinterest), selling carnations for Valentine’s Day and doing their own version of eharmony for students. The students successfully raised the money to rent a bus and were able to volunteer on February 22nd. 

Fifteen NHS members signed up to volunteer. The students cleaned and set up tables, wrapped silverware, prepared food and worked the food line.

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“The most meaningful thing, hands down, for all of us, was seeing and hearing how grateful the people were for their meal. There is nowhere else where you can see someone so happy for our volunteer work. Definitely put a smile on our faces as well!”

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The NHS members had a great time volunteering. They even adopted nicknames for their fellow students based on what they were serving in line, like Peaches, Cookie, Beans, and Dressing.

The students were especially touched by their interaction with the Gathering’s guests. “We met a guy, Monte. He checked the name on our hats and wanted to be polite and address us by our first names. He was very thankful for what we were doing at The Gathering.”

Like Monte, the Gathering community is also thankful for what East Troy High School and other students do to travel to a meal site and volunteer. We look forward to seeing Peaches, Cookie, Beans, Dressing, Napkins, Coffee, and all other East Troy NHS students when they come volunteer again in March. Who knows, maybe Ed the chef will let us duct tape him to the wall!

Looking Down the Dirt Road with Jeanne

Jeanne (second from the right) with fellow volunteers at the dinner program

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“I got involved with the Gathering because I was homeless, because I lost my job and I couldn’t pay my rent. And that’s basically the long and short of it. I came in one day and asked the coordinator downtown if she needed any help and the rest was pretty much Gathering history.”

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Jeanne explained this story to me when asked how she first got involved with the Gathering. She is indeed a part of Gathering history, as she has been volunteering for the Gathering’s meal programs for about ten years.

Jeanne understands the issues that contribute to hunger and homelessness, having spent plenty of time at the Gathering and in Milwaukee. When sitting down with me, Jeanne discussed the Great Depression, the history of Milwaukee, labor issues, urban sprawl, globalization, deindustrialization and the rust belt, the education system, employment issues and more.

“We never looked down the dirt road to see that the corporations and manufacturing jobs were not going to be here. I knew a lot of people that used to have decent, good paying jobs. But now we need to reinvent ourselves—because the industrial day is gone.”

Jeanne is adept at recognizing a lot of the structural and systemic issues that contribute to poverty, hunger and homelessness in Milwaukee. Her lived experiences as well as her self-education have taught her what is needed to turn things around for many disadvantaged individuals:

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“Change doesn’t ever come from the top down, it comes from the bottom up. Maybe the time will come when somebody will get inspired to go out and say, ‘Enough! No more.’ People shouldn’t have to live like this. They shouldn’t have to suffer like this. We can do better.”

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For Jeanne, and others involved in the Gathering community, the Gathering offers opportunities to do better. Even opportunities to influence change.

“Look at all the people that come here. Where do you find people like this? I don’t know of anywhere else where you might be able to go and meet all of the different kinds of people that come here. We’re like one big adopted dysfunctional family…Maybe [The Gathering] is an idea showing what cooperation could be like. Maybe even showing an idea of what things could be like. If you leave the baggage at the door and everybody comes here and everybody gets together. Who knows? You’ve seen what people do here. We just come in and do whatever. Everybody has a job, everyone has pretty much done every job. Everybody comes in here and does whatever needs to be done. The work gets done. We have fun doing it. But we realize the most important thing is not that we have fun, but the work we do, the most important thing is that people get fed. And that’s basically where it starts. A person comes in here, they’re hungry, and we feed ‘em. You’re going to get so much more back when you do that. I can sit here and preach to the choir but there is nothing like experiencing it for yourself.”

Jeanne’s communal view of the Gathering and the work being done is shared by others who volunteer with her at the Gathering’s dinner program. Some dinner volunteers have even tossed around the idea of opening their own restaurant. Jeanne’s ideas, communal vision, education and articulate hope for the future represent one piece of the puzzle that is needed to end hunger and homelessness.

Volunteer Spotlight: Marquette University High School

MU high faculty discuss Milwaukee issues

When I walked into the St. James breakfast site one morning this past February, Marquette University High School’s Urban Plunge Retreat faculty members were gathered around. They were talking with George, the Gathering’s Breakfast Program Coordinator, about some of the causes of poverty in Milwaukee, such as barriers to employment, education, affordable housing, incarceration and more. All of the faculty members were contributing their own knowledge, expertise and curiosity to the conversation. You could tell right away that the group was invested, not only in the education of their students, but also in the well-being of their city.

Marquette University High School students have volunteered with the Gathering 334 times since they began in 2001. The core volunteering group comes from the sophomore class, which is required to get twelve hours of community service a semester. Sophomores choose to volunteer with The Gathering’s breakfast program or other service organizations around Milwaukee. After initially volunteering, some students continue the experience, even after graduation.

The students aren’t the only ones committed to service. Marquette High School faculty decided to do an urban immersion retreat this year, including visiting the service sites where students volunteer. “Everybody wanted to come and see what our students do here, to see what it is all about,” explained one faculty member. After a discussion about Milwaukee’s social issues, the group volunteered the following day to prepare, serve and clean up the Gathering’s breakfast.

We are so thankful for the students who choose the Gathering as their volunteer site. We are also thankful that they have teachers, administrators, leaders and role models who not only value service, but actively participate. We hope this partnership continues for many more years.

Giver’s Honor Roll

$15,000 - $24,999 Nicholas Family Foundation

$10,000 - $14,999 Catholic Community Foundation

$5,000 - $9,999 2 Anonymous Donors All Saints’ Cathedral Hunger Book Sale GE Healthcare Hunger Relief Fund of Wisconsin Mel and David Johnson Luedke-Smith Fund - The Greater Milwaukee Foundation Lux Foundation Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation St. Paul’s Episcopal Church - Milwaukee Thompson Family Foundation Waukesha County Community Foundation

$2,500 - $4,999 2 Anonymous Donors Christ Church Episcopal – Whitefish Bay Emanuel United Church of Christ-Hales Corners Empty Bowls Project Greg and Jackie Johnson Ladish Company Foundation Mark and Karen Meunier Trainer Family Foundation United Way of Greater Milwaukee Donor Choice

$1,000 - $2,499 7 Anonymous Donors Jeff and Susan Allen David and Karen Bartel Bostik, Inc. Lucy Cooper Richard and Mary DeLuca EFSP Phase XXX Allocation Rachel Finger Gathering Memorial Fund - The Greater Milwaukee Foundation Daniel and Kathy Glaser Thomas and Mary Hawley Evan and Marion Helfaer Foundation Steve Holt Immanuel Presbyterian Church- Milwaukee Jerome and Lynn Johnson Joy Global Dan and Nancy Kiernan Robert F. Martin Joseph and Joni McDevitt John and Beryl Mulhern William and Susan Rose St. John Vianney Congregation - Brookfield St. Joseph's Catholic Church - Wauwatosa St. Mark’s Episcopal Church - Milwaukee Richard Schreiner Margaret Schumacher Richard and Mary Thickens Jason and Laura Thurow UMB BankRobert and Ellen Venable Donald and Kate Wilson

$500 - $999 9 Anonymous Donors Answerport Management and Technology Consultants Robert C. Archer Designated Fund-The Greater Milwaukee Foundation David and Mary Claire Ashpole James Bauman Richard and Carol Bayerlein Evert and Cindy Berndt Patricia Bowne Joe and Marlene Bruno Michael Carter Lisa Christiansen Paul and Mary Counsell James and Diane Cowles Paul Fackler David P. and Marjorie L. Hamacher Fund- The Greater Milwaukee Foundation Kevin Hanus Michael Istwan and Amy Korpi Keith Jacoby Ted and Mary Kellner Linda Knee Michael and Sarah Kubly Eugene and Gwendolyn Lavin Jim and Maureen Leurquin George and Sharon Loxton Jesse Maier Andrew Martin and Janet Trostel Martin Jane Matheus Rex and Gladys Merriman Fund-The Greater Milwaukee Foundation Jeff and Holly Morris Shane Morrison William and Susan Mueller Kevin and Cheryl O'Connor Jack and Martha Prince Family Fund-The Greater Milwaukee Foundation Robert W. Baird & Co.Foundation St. Bernard's Congregation - Wauwatosa St. Therese Parish - Milwaukee Joel and Ellen Sauer Patrick Schoen Thomas and Meredie Scrivner Seaman-Goes Family Foundation Seeds of Health Elementary School Sharp-Zillig Foundation Gary and Maureen Shebesta Shorewest Realtors Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem James and Christine Speaker Fred and Anne Stratton Charles Trainer and Anne Booth Carl and Nancy Trimble Trinity Episcopal Church - Wauwatosa Patrick and Joanne Ward Trevor and Margaret Will Eugene and Carmen Witt John Zacher

$250 - $499 14 Anonymous Donors Richard and Karen Binder Robert and Elizabeth Bradley John and Julie Cabaniss Carrie Taylor and Nettie Taylor Robinson Memorial Fund- The Greater Milwaukee Foundation Christ Church - Delavan Data Financial, Inc. Mark and Jennie Ehrmann John Farina Sarah Ford and Randall Klumb Greg and Hazel Griffin Paul and Mary Beth Haubrich Stephen and Deborah Heinze Hills of Clay Pottery/The Waxwing Holz Motors Marilyn John Maureen Kania Peter and Mary Klabunde Jeff and Christa Klarer James and Dona Knight Peter and Kristin Kult Brian and Suzanne Lanser Daryl and Kim Lueck Peter Mahsem, Sr. Phillip Mattix and Sheila Stafford Michael McClone Jo Mooney Thomas Mooney and Elene Strates Harry and Ellie Moseley Greg and Beth Myers W. Stuart and Phoebe Parsons Charles and Evelyn Payson Kimberly Pons James and Cynthia Reilly Mason and Julie Ross St. Agnes Congregation - Butler St. Boniface Episcopal Church - Mequon St. Nicholas Orthodox Church - Cedarburg Roger and Margery Senn Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church - Richfield James and Patricia Sherry Jerry Smith Dean and Kathy Thome WaterStone Bank Fund - Waukesha County Community Foundation Western States Envelope Company

Numbers are up at Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church

A Mt. Carmel chef hard at work

Nearly 3 years after Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church began its collaboration with the Gathering to serve lunch on the fourth saturday of each month, the meal is going strong. “Our numbers are up, and they are staying up,” Dani Ovanin, the youth ministry coordinator and meal program liaison, explains. They have consistently served between 50-55 guests per meal. With the recent close of a senior meal center in the neighborhood, the meal may even expand to serve more in the community.

Not only has the number of guests increased, but so has the number of volunteers. Mt. Carmel youth help prepare and serve meals as well as Marquette High school students, who seize the opportunity to gain some experience. We are so thankful for Mt. Carmel’s service and their commitment to feeding the hungry in their west side neighborhood.

Mt Carmel volunteers distribute desserts