Riverwest Food Pantry Changes Name, Announces Expanded Vision

The Riverwest Food Pantry is now known as the Kinship Community Food Center.

“Think of our new identity as an invitation to people from all corners of the city to come together to help each other thrive through belonging, giving, and receiving,” said executive director Vincent Noth in a statement. “We are a community of generosity that shares our struggles and our joys, our lives and wisdom. That’s what kinship is all about.”

The organization reports providing approximately 300,000 pounds of food annually to more than 15,000 Milwaukee residents.

The organization was founded in 1979 as a program of the East Side Housing Action Committee (ESHAC) and ministry of Riverwest’s St. Casimir Church, 924 E. Clarke St., from which it continues to distribute food.

But the food center became an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2013 and its offices are now located at 2610 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. in the Harambee neighborhood

Kinship is looking for a new, larger facility to jointly house its offices, food center operations and a commercial kitchen. The new facility could include a cafe with a social mission.

Backed by a two-year grant from the Dohmen Company Foundation, the organization also added chef and former restaurant owner Caitlin Cullen as its food center director in January.

Kinship also operates a 27,000-square-foot farm at 4355 N. Port Washington Rd. in Glendale. It is used to grow approximately 12,000 pounds of produce annually.

The organization provides food to residents of the 53202, 53203, 53211, 53212 and 53217 ZIP codes. It also works to provide referrals to other agencies for those in need. Its 2020 annual report says it helped prevent 47 evictions.

It reports that 74% of its 2021 income came from philanthropic gifts.

NOTE: Vincent Noth is the son of Urban Milwaukee contributing writer Dominique Paul Noth.