Food Pantry Receives $15,000 Donation from Trust

William Dillard was a loner.

As a man who battled cerebral palsy and was legally blind, he didn’t fit in with all the others. It wasn’t surprising that he shied away from stepping into the social limelight. Although Dillard kept to himself during his lifetime, he has left a legacy that will impact hungry families for years to come.

Dillard, a loyal member of St. Paul’s UCC congregation and choir, passed away in September after his health slowly declined. Dillard was a man of humble means, but thrifty and had an eye for investments. He left behind a sizable trust in his name, and a $150,000 donation was made to St. Paul’s in December.

“Bill wasn’t a big talker. He sang in the choir but he wasn’t a very extroverted person,” said the Rev. Laura Blanco, pastor at St. Paul’s. “It’s another example of how you can’t judge a book by its cover. His donation was very inspirational to the church.”

On Wednesday, representatives of the Menomonee Falls Area Food Pantry met with local church leaders to discuss fundraising for the new location of the pantry. It was there that Julie Loth, a board member with St. Paul’s, announced that $15,000 will be donated to the pantry this year from Dillard’s trust. For years to come, an annual $2,000 donation will also come from the trust.

“From a little he made a lot, and from that lot he is sharing it,” said Dillard’s sister, Susan Mascotti. “One of his joys was the outreach program that the food pantry offered.”

Mascotti said she routinely helped Dillard shop for groceries. Often, she would load up the car and notice he bought 11 boxes of cereal — a lot of cereal for one man.

“I would tell him, ‘Good Lord Bill what are you doing with all this cereal?’” Mascotti said. “He’d answer, ‘One box for me, and ten for the food pantry.’”

Donation pushes pantry past the halfway point

There’s hope that Dillard’s story will perhaps inspire others in the community to contribute toward the food pantry, which is in the midst of its most ambitious capital funding campaign since it was formed in 1983.

Food pantry organizers are working to raise $200,000 to fund the move into a former Water Department building along Menomonee River Parkway. They are just days away from putting shovels into the ground to begin construction of an additional 2,400-square-foot distribution warehouse on the site.

With Dillard’s donation, organizers have now raised approximately $102,000 with half of the funds coming from local church congregations. On Wednesday, the Rev. Meredith Musaus urged fellow church leaders to continue fundraising campaigns with their congregations and the community at large.

“This is a ministry that can’t die. We need to face the fact that we have hungry people and we need to keep this ministry going,” Musaus said.

In the past, members of the food pantry could quietly go about their fundraising efforts as their main concern was funding food purchases and rent at their soon-to-be former location in Hiawatha School.

Now, food pantry officials need to fund food purchases, utilities, maintenance and other overhead costs that they didn’t have in Hiawatha. Furthermore, demand for the food pantry services continues to grow.

In 2002, the food pantry served about 95 households in the Menomonee Falls area. In 2010 that total skyrocketed to 495 households, or about 1,400 people. Annually, the food pantry spends $68,000 on food to maintain stock for residents.

Recently, Roundy’s pledged to donate over 2,000 pounds of food as well as $500. On Christmas Eve, an anonymous donor paid the bill for a $500 food purchase by the pantry. While contributions like Dillard’s and Roundy’s are a tremendous help, there’s still nearly $100,000 to be raised and momentum needs to continue.

“These are really good heart-warming stories,” said Robin Manke, food pantry director. “But we have to keep it going.”