Golden Guernsey milk going to Hunger Task Force

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Milk is a product you don't typically see on the shelves at a food pantry, but that's changing this week. The Hunger Task Force received milk from Golden Guernsey Dairy after the Waukesha plant closed down.

After hearing the news of the sudden closure of the Golden Guernsey Dairy Plant, Hunger Task Force officials started making phone calls.

"Each quart of milk that is there, there is a person behind it, somebody who is in need, somebody who could benefit from it," Hunger Task Force Director Sherrie Tussler said.

It took a lot of persistence, but on Monday, January 14th, the Hunger Task Force got approval to begin taking milk out of the dairy plant for free.

"We`re still trying to figure out how many gallons of milk we`ll be receiving and what the total value is, but I`m thinking it`s going to be millions," Tussler said.

Officials say they anticipate filling about 50 semi loads of milk and they're delivering it to shelters, food pantries and after school programs across the state.

"Our emergency lodge, they purchase all of their milk normally, so this will save them money that they can use on other programs or use to buy other food or more food or house more children," Ray Aten with the Salvation Army said.

The Hunger Task Force is working hard to get all of this milk shipped out as quickly as possible as most of it has a sell by date of January 22nd.

"We`re going to do our utmost to get the vast majority out the door by Friday," Tussler said.

Although the closing of Golden Guernsey is a loss for Wisconsin, Hunger Task Force officials say they're determined to make something positive out of a difficult situation.