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Waunakee nonprofit reports rising need, asks board to repeat $10,000 contribution
Summary
Waunakee Neighborhood Connection and the Waunakee Food Pantry presented 2025 service figures showing increased demand and looming funding gaps; WNC said ARPA support will run out in early 2028 and asked the board to consider repeating a $10,000 village contribution to sustain emergency assistance and basic supplies.
Veronica Castillo, executive director of Waunakee Neighborhood Connection (WNC), and Lydia Silva Rios, WNC’s director of community partnerships, told the Village Board WNC supported 232 households representing 627 people in 2025 and recorded more than 2,100 visits to its community store.
"Every number on that screen represents a Waunakee community member," Castillo said, framing the organization’s statistics as individual stories rather than abstract counts.
Silva Rios said WNC’s volunteers and partners provided nearly nine tons of donated goods last year, 42 active volunteers contributed more than 3,100 hours, and nearly 200 students received school supplies through back‑to‑school efforts. She said WNC distributed approximately 1,300 pounds of food through the student closet and provided diaper support to roughly 35 children per month.
Kathy Gundrome, director of the Waunakee Food Pantry, presented pantry data showing monthly client counts typically between 700 and 900 people and a 2025 total of about 9,826 people served, an increase of roughly 1,600 people from 2024. She said the pantry handled about 97,520 pounds of donated product in and distributed roughly 187,785 pounds out during 2025.
WNC said roughly 90% of its funding comes from community donations and local grants; its current operating budget is about $350,000 and the organization has raised about 8% of that so far this year. Castillo said the village provided ARPA funds in 2024 that helped sustain operations but those funds are projected to be exhausted in early 2028.
"These funds will run out beginning January of 2028," she said, and asked whether the village would consider setting aside support when ARPA funds expire.
Board members asked questions about program details and eligibility. A trustee asked about TFAP supply variability; Gundrome explained TFAP stands for the Emergency Food Assistance Program and its distributions have become less predictable. Trustees also asked how the pantry and WNC raise funds; staff described a mix of annual appeals (including a full‑page ad in the local paper), business partnerships, church support and volunteers. Gundrome said a single church once provided $7,000 for holiday food assistance.
On direct financial assistance, the organizations said standard per‑case emergency help historically capped at $500 had been raised to $750 this year with discretion to go up to $1,000 in exceptional cases. WNC said it hopes to hire a part‑time social worker to provide case management and preventive support, reducing reliance on emergency assistance.
Castillo repeated a prior village contribution request: "When in 2024 it was $10,000. My hope is we can repeat that," she said, noting the village’s ARPA funding had been stretched over multiple years.
The presentation closed after board members thanked the organizations and noted the importance of local "social‑services first responders." The board did not take a formal vote on WNC’s request during open session; trustees asked staff to consider WNC’s budget timeline and asked additional questions about grants and partnerships as staff follow up.
