My mom always tells me to “stop and smell the roses.” She’s been telling me that for as long as I can remember. She’s right you know, not just for me but for all of us.

We’re lucky here in Wisconsin, but we often don’t take the time to contemplate our good fortune and to use that reflection to make things better. For example, we habitually take for granted our state’s natural beauty, relatively strong economy and absence of devastating natural disasters. Don’t get me wrong, tornadoes and floods are bad, but not like hurricanes, tsunamis, out-of-control wildfires, earth quakes and volcanoes! Not to mention we have perhaps the widest selection of beer and cheese anywhere in the world. We truly are blessed here in Wisconsin.

But there’s also trouble in paradise. Wisconsin has many children who go hungry each day. We have a “food gap” of nearly 30 million meals. And while every person who goes hungry is regrettable and worthy of help, it is the children who rightfully command our immediate attention. 

This is why the Wisconsin REALTORS^® Foundation (WRF) is teaming up with Feeding Wisconsin to help address food insecurity in Wisconsin and help feed our children in need. To accomplish this, we need your help.

Low income households spend nearly 70 percent of their income on food and shelter — 44 percent on housing and 24 percent to cover basic food needs. But because food spending is more flexible than fixed expenses like paying the mortgage, rent, utilities, transportation or insurance, food is often the most vulnerable to budget shocks or shortfalls. When families must cut, it’s often in spending on food. And most often, households with children are at an elevated risk of food insecurity. Nationally, 13 percent of all households are food insecure whereas 17 percent of households with children are food insecure. Not only are these children hungry, they’re also grappling with the anxiety that their parents and guardians are going through. In Wisconsin, of households that visit food pantries, a third, or 35 percent, have children under the age of five years old — that’s 64,636 children; and another 117,520 children between six and 17 years of age living in food-insecure homes. That’s a lot of potential childhood hunger, according to Feeding Wisconsin statistics.

The sad thought of a child going hungry at any given hour or day is bad enough, but childhood hunger can lead to longer term diminished outcomes. Academic studies demonstrate that children from food-insecure homes are at higher risk for significantly lower math scores in school, repeating a grade in elementary school, experiencing developmental impairments in language or motor skills, more social and behavioral problems, and less prepared for the workforce as adults.

The WRF has a simple goal of making life better for Wisconsin children in need. We call it our “Make It Better” campaign. This multi-year, multi-pronged effort is intended to help needy children in four areas: education, hunger, homelessness/abuse, and serious illnesses. Our focus this year is to partner with Feeding Wisconsin to harness the financial and volunteer resources of the REALTOR^® Family to ensure no child feels the pains of hunger in Wisconsin.

Feeding Wisconsin is a truly remarkable organization and partner, as many REALTORS^® across Wisconsin already know from firsthand experience. Feeding Wisconsin has six participating food banks, which are large-scale warehouses to collect and distribute food to over 1,000 local food pantries in the state. Together, this network provides nearly 55 million meals to nearly 600,000 Wisconsinites annually in all 72 counties.

Feeding Wisconsin has a simple vision: A healthy and hunger-free Wisconsin. Its mission is to help food banks and stakeholders (like us) fight hunger, improve health and strengthen communities. They exist to help food banks feed more people more often.

In the comings months, you will hear more and see more about the WRF’s partnership with Feeding Wisconsin. This partnership will begin with a contribution of 150,000 meals — that’s $50,000 — from the WRF, but it won’t end there. We will be asking every REALTOR^® to contribute both financially — so we can get the food to the panties — and with volunteer time — so the pantries can get the food to needy families. Look for news to follow about how you can help the food pantries in your area.

But here is the easiest and most important way you can help. Your 2019 WRA membership dues statement that you’ll be receiving this fall will include a $20 contribution to the WRF. This contribution is voluntary. To help the WRF continue its efforts of making it better for Wisconsin children in need — like our partnership with Feeding Wisconsin — we ask that you please leave that contribution to the Wisconsin REALTORS^® Foundation on your dues statement and join us. 

For right now, we will measure our success by how many meals we can provide hungry children in Wisconsin. Please help us help them.

Let’s do this.