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Food-buying club seeing increase in membership

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SHARE distribution

SHARE has an efficient operation set up at Janesville's Labor Temple on Center Ave. to distribute the food to it's members.

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JANESVILLE — Anyone looking to stretch his or her food dollars needs to use SHARE.

“It’s just that simple,” said Candice Dunn-Phillips of Janesville.

Dunn-Phillips became a member of SHARE in March. After her first experience, she plans to continue ordering groceries through the nonprofit food-buying club.

“I’m all for saving money. We have a food budget we want to stick to, and I think SHARE is going to be able to help us do that,’’ she said.

Dunn-Phillips and her family of four are not alone.

SHARE, which serves all of Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Illinois, “is experiencing a huge increase in participation,” said Ben LeFort, communications and public information manager.

During the organization’s last fiscal year ending in September 2008, about 14 percent more families used SHARE compared to the year before, he said.

The increase didn’t stop there. During the last three months of 2008, it was up 20 percent compared to the same time in 2007. And January 2009 was up 44 percent over January 2008, LeFort said.

The SHARE host site in Janesville also is experiencing participation growth, said Ronnie and Delores Thomas, coordinators.

Participation increased by 283 people in 2008 over 2007. And nearly 100 new members during the first three months of 2009 compared to 2008, Delores said.

This is happening for a variety of reasons, Ronnie said.

“The economy is not good. But also, people are starting to remember SHARE. We’re out in the community promoting the product; we’re getting satisfied customers who are telling other people about it. Good product sells itself if enough people can hear about it,’’ he said.

The trend of more people joining SHARE will continue, Ronnie said.

“If the economic situation doesn’t change, I expect it to increase indefinitely,’’ he said.

Anyone can become a SHARE member. There are no eligibility guidelines, income limits or membership fees. SHARE used to require members to volunteer at least two hours a month but that no longer is true, Delores said.

“Over time, SHARE found out a lot of people are handicapped and for whatever reasons could not do volunteer work so now volunteerism is promoted as one of the things we’d like our members to do,’’ Ronnie said.

Compared to supermarket prices, SHARE members can save between 30 percent and 50 percent on a variety of food from frozen meats and fresh fruits to vegetables and canned goods, Delores said.

All of the food is bought in bulk on the national wholesale market just like a grocery store chain. None of it is donated, commodity or out-of-date, LeFort said.

Volunteers help get the word out about SHARE, take orders and organize monthly distribution in donated spaces. That help on top of no stockholders to pay also cuts the cost of food for SHARE members, LeFort said.

Food stamps, cash, money orders and checks can be used to pay for SHARE food orders at local SHARE sites. Online orders must be paid with a credit or debit card.

Dunn-Phillips said her $70 of SHARE food—including kiwi, grapefruits, apples, onions, juice boxes, potatoes and bacon-wrap fillets—would have cost her at least $40 more at the grocery store.

“It was absolutely unbelievable. I would recommend this to anybody on a budget whether they are low-income or not. Even after we overcome our situation, my hubby goes back to work and things return to normal, I’m still going to use this program because you cannot beat the deals,’’ she said.

Dunn-Phillips also praised SHARE volunteers.

“It is hard when you go from not having to deal with public assistance to having to stand in line for food. But they took that all away and made it inviting, welcoming and easy to be part of the program.’’

SHARE DISTRIBUTION SITES

Rock County

Janesville—Union Labor Temple, 1605 Center, Ave., (608) 754-4433.

Beloit—Eclipse Center Court, 1 Beloit Mall, (608) 365-5837 or (608) 365-6270.

Milton/Edgerton—Milton Methodist Church, 241 Northside Drive, (608) 868-2005 or (608) 921-9116.

Walworth County

Pell Lake, Trinity Lutheran Church, W775 Geranium Road, (262) 279-6866 or (262) 279-2278.

Delavan/Walworth—Delavan Community Center, 820 E. Geneva St, (262) 903-7344.

East Troy—Call (262) 642-4007.

To learn more: Call your local volunteer team at the phone numbers listed above, toll free at 1-800-548-2124 or visit SHARE’s Web site at www.sharewi.org to order online.