The River Food Pantry

The River Food Pantry The River is Dane County’s busiest food pantry. The River is South Central Wisconsin’s busiest food pantry.
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Services include free groceries and freshly prepared meals for pickup or delivery, online grocery orders, mobile meals, and after-hours food lockers. The River also redistributes rescued food and resources to local partners to increase access while minimizing waste. Since 2006, The River has grown to serve over 4,000 people every week in pursuit of its vision: a fully nourished community. The Rive

r Food Pantry believes in the power of social media to present all sides to the issue of food insecurity and encourages a free-flowing conversation between constituents on social media platforms. The River considers this page to be a public forum and reserves the right to republish posts and comments to this page in other communications both offline and online. Even though this page is a public forum, we respect the privacy of people requiring food assistance and we will not republish posts about personal food assistance needs that could be trackable to a specific individual. The River reserves the right to delete comments from external parties if the following occurs:
- Social media posts that contain profanity.
- Social media posts that are negatively commenting or personal attacks on the people we serve, employees of our food pantry, and volunteers.
- Social media posts that contain content that may be reasonably considered offensive, disruptive, defamatory, or derogatory. Examples include, but are not limited to, s*xual comments or images, racial slurs, or other comments or images that would offend someone on the basis of his or her race, color, s*x, religion, national origin, s*xual orientation, age, disability or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.
- Social media posts that are not about hunger and food-related issues. We appreciate all of you for taking interest in the issue of food insecurity in Dane County and getting involved with The River.

Many thanks to all the donors, including many River volunteers, who made our blood drive with ImpactLife a success! 🏥19 ...
06/06/2026

Many thanks to all the donors, including many River volunteers, who made our blood drive with ImpactLife a success! 🏥

19 donors made a huge difference today. Each donation saves 3 lives🥰

Save your spot for our next blood drive with ImpactLife on July 31 from 10 am-1 pm in our dining room. Sign up here: https://login.bloodcenter.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/150434 🗓

We are excited to launch our partnership with Bikes for Kids Wisconsin! 🚲Through this new and innovative program, Meals ...
06/06/2026

We are excited to launch our partnership with Bikes for Kids Wisconsin! 🚲

Through this new and innovative program, Meals on 2 Wheels, volunteer riders will complete grocery deliveries to our homebound clients! 🥰

This partnership is layered with positive impact: getting food to people who otherwise may not be able to access it, providing an opportunity for people to pedal for a great cause, and completing deliveries without emitting fossil fuel 🌍

🎉 What an incredible Grand Opening Celebration! 🎉Yesterday we had the privilege of welcoming more than 400 guests throug...
06/05/2026

🎉 What an incredible Grand Opening Celebration! 🎉

Yesterday we had the privilege of welcoming more than 400 guests through The River during our Grand Opening & 20th Anniversary Celebration.

Guests had the opportunity to tour our new facility, enjoy light refreshments and live jazz music, and celebrate all that we have accomplished together since 2006.

Throughout the event, we heard so many encouraging comments—from how organized and welcoming the space is, to how delicious the appetizers were, how convenient onsite parking is, and amazement at the number of programs and services offered through The River.

A special thank you to everyone who helped make the event such a success:
🍽️ Our board and volunteers for greeting guests and helping to prepare and serve delicious food and drinks.
🖼️ Spolar Studio for building our incredible new donor and volunteer recognition walls.
🎨 Lea Culver for contributing her beautiful paintings as our first featured art exhibit on our gallery wall, on display through September 30.
✨ Ramaker - Architecture + Engineering, the architect of our new building, for creating an awesome breakfast Canstruction display.
🎶 Don and his jazz quintet for providing wonderful live music.

We were also honored to recognize our Executive Director, Rhonda Adams, for her vision, leadership, and unwavering dedication. During the celebration, she was presented with a commemorative plaque that will be permanently displayed in our new building—a fitting tribute to the impact she has had on The River and the countless lives touched through its mission.

This Grand Opening was more than a celebration of a new building—it was a celebration of a community that has come together to make a difference since 2006. Thank you to everyone who joined us, supported us, and continues to be part of The River’s story.

We are excited for all that lies ahead👏👏👏

📸 Take a look at some of the highlights from this memorable day!

FAM (Family At-Home Meals) presents this week: chicken noodle or tomato veggie soup. 🥣The alternative option each week i...
06/02/2026

FAM (Family At-Home Meals) presents this week: chicken noodle or tomato veggie soup. 🥣

The alternative option each week is a Sandwich Bag Lunch🥪

Our clients are invited to take home a free meal for everyone in their household once a week on Tuesday from 9am–3pm, Wednesday from 12–6pm, Thursday from 9am-12pm and Friday from 9am–3pm. 🚗

Thank you Heritage Tavern and Potosi Brewing for planning this benefit raffle event!  Save your spot for Sunday, June 14...
06/01/2026

Thank you Heritage Tavern and Potosi Brewing for planning this benefit raffle event! Save your spot for Sunday, June 14th for an unforgettable afternoon of raffles, great beer, and amazing food specials! 🍻🍽️

RSVP here: https://heritagetavern.com/meat-raffle-6%2F14%2F26

If you have wool or fleece clothing and materials to donate after spring cleaning, now is the perfect time to drop those...
05/31/2026

If you have wool or fleece clothing and materials to donate after spring cleaning, now is the perfect time to drop those items off at The River Food Pantry for Pantry Partners of Dane County!

Pantry Partners will turn those unwanted items into beautiful handmade mittens to sell in support of our local food pantries, including The River! Making a donation now gives the volunteer mitten makers several months to transform your items into something new that benefits our community.

The River Food Pantry will accept your donations of wool (including items that are a wool blend) and/or fleece in our lobby located at 3301 Packers Ave, Madison. We will pass them on to Pantry Partners so they can work their magic!

Learn more here: https://www.pantrypartnersdane.com/

Is your organization thinking about hosting a food drive but not sure where to start? Get everything you need in our foo...
05/30/2026

Is your organization thinking about hosting a food drive but not sure where to start? Get everything you need in our food drive kit here: https://www.riverfoodpantry.org/food-drive-kit/

We provide all the customizable templates you need to promote your food drive and can even lend you one of our branded donation barrels. 🥫

Address

3301 Packers Avenue
Madison, WI
53704

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 3pm
Wednesday 12pm - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 12pm
Friday 9am - 3pm

Telephone

+16084428815

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