'A good cause:' Hunger Task Force volunteers build 500 festive Easter dinner boxes

Hunger Task Force Easter baskets

Sharon Johnson

MILWAUKEE -- The Hunger Task Force helped Milwaukee families in need enjoy the Easter holiday with a festive meal by filling and distributing 500 "Easter Boxes" to help feed hungry families for a week.

"I was in charge of getting the vegetables into the bins, making sure that there was an assortment of vegetables," said Sharon Johnson, volunteer.

The Hunger Task Force puts the boxes together every year. The Easter dinners would include assorted healthy foods like canned fruits and vegetables, breakfast cereal, pork loin roasts, frozen blueberries, fresh milk, apples and much more.

"There's going to be a lot of fresh food, festive holiday food, in these boxes," said Jonathan Hansen, Hunger Task Force.

Hunger Task Force

Nearly 50 volunteers from Milwaukee-area organizations like Starbucks, U.S. Cellular and Rivion Energy Consulting gathered Wednesday morning, April 17 to build the boxes.

Jonathan Hansen

Volunteers worked together -- creating new friendships along the way. Some said doing physical volunteer work is what keeps them coming back every year.

"It's a lot of team building that we can have fun working with others that we maybe haven't met before, and it's certainly going to a good cause and gives you a little exercise too," said Dale Lenderts, volunteer.

The boxes would be picked up by food pantry coordinators and distributed to 500 pre-determined families facing the greatest need.

Hunger Task Force

"We're serving 500 families through these Easter bins. The HTF serves 50,000 people every single month," said Hansen.