St. Hyacinth Food Pantry is now the Jim Luther New Hope Center

Dear Friends of the Pantry, 

St. Hyacinth's Food Pantry, the Jim Luther New Hope Center and the St Hyacinth's Congregation together write today to inform you about upcoming changes at the St. Hyacinth Emergency Food Pantry. As a valued Donor of the food pantry, we want to always respect the intent of your gifts. 

Since its inception, the operations of the Food Pantry have been managed by a Board of Directors/Advisors that primarily consists of volunteers from many different walks of lives and backgrounds. The Chairman of the Board has been and remains the pastor for St Hyacinth parish (currently, Father Hugo Londono). During the time this Board has managed the Food Pantry they have become aware of many other needs of the clients they serve, including job services, educational opportunities, legal assistance, health assistance, etc ... To combat the core problem of food insecurity, many food pantries are beginning to offer these types of social services. This has led the Board to create, among other programs, the Co-Op program that we have been telling donors about, which is now part of the Jim Luther New Hope Center. 

The current schoolhouse facility that houses the food pantry and Co-op has many challenges. It is physically too small for what has become one of Milwaukee's largest food pantries. In addition, the Pantry has dangerously small and steep steps for volunteers who are mostly in their 60s and 70s. These stairs provide significant challenges in moving the 30,000+ pounds of food per month that are received, stored, and stocked. For that reason, the operations of the food pantry along with the co-op are targeted to physically move to another, yet to be determined, neighborhood location (a search is ongoing) that will better suit our needs. 

In addition, the mission of the St. Hyacinth Emergency Food Pantry has expanded to the point that it is beyond what a parish can manage. St. Hyacinth is very grateful for the work that has been done by the volunteers at the Food Pantry and want them to continue to fulfill their mission. Therefore, the Pantry Board has recommended and the St. Hyacinth congregation has concurred that the Jim Luther New Hope Center should be responsible for all operations of this growing mission.

In the December 16, 2021 and November 30, 2022 newsletters, donors were made aware of the intention of the Jim Luther New Hope Center to separate from St. Hyacinth and move the food pantry and co-op to another location. The organization asked donors at that time to let us know if any donor did not want their donations moved to the new organization. Collectively the Pantry and the Church are inquiring once again if donors have any objection to the transfer. If you object to the transfer of these monies to the Jim Luther New Hope Center, we ask that you contact us and advise us of the same (see contact information, below). For the sake of expediency, if we do not hear from you by April 30, 2023 with an objection, St. Hyacinth will transfer those funds to the Jim Luther New Hope Center. 

In summary, the mission of the Pantry/Co-op organization has not changed but has simply evolved to include additional ministries. In addition, it is important that donors know that this is an amicable separation, both parties agreeing that this is best for the continuing success of the mission. This separation is accepted and also blessed by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. It is our sincere hope that you will continue your valuable support of the Pantry and Co-op, now to be under the auspices of the Jim Luther New Hope Center. To that end, please forward all future donations to:
 
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact either of the signatures of this correspondence. 

Sincerely,
Steve Pollock 
President, Jim Luther New Hope Center 
[email protected] 
Executive Director, St. Hyacinth's Food Pantry 
[email protected] | (414) 916-5944

Father Hugo Londono 
Pastor, St. Hyacinth, St. Anthony Parish 
Chairman of the Board, St. Hyacinth Food Pantry 
[email protected] | (414) 645-1455