Hunger Task Force is Milwaukee's food bank, and an unusual one. It is free and local: it charges the pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters it supplies nothing for the food they receive, and it operates independently of the national Feeding America network. It feeds more than 50,000 people a month across Milwaukee County, and it runs its own farm in Franklin that grows hundreds of thousands of pounds of fresh produce a year, plus a Mobile Market that brings groceries into neighborhoods with few stores. Matt King serves as CEO, following Sherrie Tussler, who led the organization for 27 years.
Hunger Task Force supplies a network of pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters across Milwaukee County, and it does so on a free-and-local model: partner agencies pay nothing for the food, and the organization raises the money to cover it. That sets it apart from most food banks, which charge agencies a small shared-maintenance fee. It also stands apart from the national system, operating independently rather than as a Feeding America member.
Its Franklin farm grows fresh fruits and vegetables for distribution, and its Mobile Market functions as a grocery store on wheels for neighborhoods with limited access to fresh food. Both reflect a long-standing focus on nutrition and dignity, not just calories.
Matt King serves as CEO, having taken over after Sherrie Tussler retired following 27 years leading the organization. Under Tussler, Hunger Task Force built the Franklin farm, launched the Mobile Market, and became Wisconsin’s most visible anti-hunger advocate. King inherits an organization with a distinctive model and a strong local identity in Milwaukee.
Hunger Task Force serves Milwaukee County, Wisconsin’s most populous county and home to the city of Milwaukee. The county has deep, concentrated poverty in parts of the city alongside more affluent suburbs, and demand on the emergency food system has stayed elevated in recent years.
Yes. Hunger Task Force is a registered 501(c)(3) with a long operating history in Milwaukee. Its free-and-local model means it relies on community donations rather than agency fees or the national network, so local giving carries real weight. Donors can review its financials through Charity Navigator and GuideStar.
Donations and volunteer shifts run through hungertaskforce.org. Volunteers help at the warehouse, on the Franklin farm, and with the Mobile Market, and cash gifts go furthest because the organization covers the cost of food its partners would otherwise pay.
Hunger Task Force is Milwaukee County’s free-and-local food bank, while Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin is the Feeding America member covering eastern Wisconsin and Second Harvest of Southern Wisconsin covers the Madison region. For anyone in Milwaukee, Hunger Task Force is the central organization, with a model unlike any other in the state.
Pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters across Milwaukee County, supplied for free.
An organization-run farm in Franklin growing fresh produce.
A grocery store on wheels for neighborhoods with few stores.
Targeted food support for the most vulnerable groups.
Sources: Hunger Task Force website (hungertaskforce.org), and 2024 reporting from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, TMJ4, and CBS 58 on Sherrie Tussler’s retirement and the organization’s model. We are not affiliated with Hunger Task Force and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
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