Grant will help Edgerton Community Outreach serve more families in need

Center hopes to begin construction in September

EDGERTON, Wis. — Thanks to a matching grant, Edgerton Community Outreach is closer to being able to meet its goal of helping more families in northern Rock County.

Edgerton Community Outreach runs a number of programs to help needy families in Edgerton, Evansville and Milton.

Once a month, retiree Chloe Weber gets a personal shopper to help her select groceries at Edgerton Community Outreach’s food bank.

“I’ve worked my entire life, and when I retired unfortunately the stock market went down. I lost almost everything I had,” Weber said. “So the food Pantry makes a big difference. It enables me to eat better.”

Edgerton Community Outreach Executive Director Sarah Williams said she is seeing about 10 to 12 new families a month reaching out to the food pantry for help.

“In Edgerton it’s about 500 unduplicated families a year, which is about 10 percent of our population. So we’re touching quite a bit of Edgerton,” Williams said.

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A $380,000 community block grant will help the center continue its mission. Most of the money will go toward a massive renovation project doubling the center’s space.

The center will be adding a wheelchair ramp and turning previously unused space upstairs into offices.

“The thrift store itself, all of our client service offices, the food pantry and all the work areas are located in 6,000 square feet, and we are just inundated. So we just need adequate space to be able to work in all of our programs,” Williams said.

For Weber, coming to the center is also a chance to give back. She also works there as a volunteer.

“I don’t have the money to donate stuff, so that’s something I can do to help,” Williams said.

Edgerton Community Outreach has already raised about $200,000, and it needs to raise an additional $150,000 in donations.

Williams said the center is hoping to begin construction in September and have everything wrapped up by fall of 2013.

For more information or to help Edgerton Community Outreach reach its goal, go to http://edgertonoutreach.org/.