Recognizing The BRICK Ministries on National Food Pantry Day

Today is National Food Pantry Day. We’re so happy to recognize all the wonderful organizations, donors and volunteers who make food pantries such an important part of Wisconsin communities. Since COVID, Wisconsin food pantries have seen double digit increases in the families, children and elderly they serve, and with inflation impacting everyone’s budget, they are even more critical now. According to a news item from NPR, “A report issued in July 2021 found the state saw a 62% jump in pounds of food distributed by the state’s six regional Feeding America food banks in 2020 compared to the previous year.”

The BRICK Ministries has the mission and vision of compassionately helping people in need, serving residents of Ashland and Bayfield Counties. The BRICK offers a Food Shelf Program that distributes food and personal care items at four locations: Ashland, Cable, Cornucopia, and Mellen. The BRICK’s Benevolence Program assists with emergency financial resources and provides referrals. 

In 2019, the Food Shelf Program served a monthly average of 1,510 people from 682 households and distributed nearly 545,000 pounds of food throughout the year.

Solar for Good helped The BRICK install an 11.375kW array in late 2020. This project was a unique solution to the organization’s dual concerns of an old roof and limited places for an array on the ground. In the end the array was attached as an awning type structure to the front of the building. While the array only reduces their electric bill by about 10%, it’s had a positive impact on the organization’s utility bills and their enthusiasm for clean energy.

For more information about The BRICK go to http://thebrickministries.com/about/mission/.

To help us continue to support worthy Wisconsin organizations, please consider donating to the Couillard Solar Foundation. We are unique in that we directly support the implementation of solar in Wisconsin through grants of solar panels and your donations go towards the purchase of solar panels for that effort.