Programs

Champion of Nutrition Program

Recipe of the Month:

Chicken Cacciatore

There are so many aspects of nutrition and health that impact how we live, sleep, work, and function on a daily basis. We want to encourage our community to be Champions of their own nutrition, which is why we created the Champion of Nutrition Program! We invite clients and community members alike to participate in our educational resources and continue to provide our pantry clients with a Champ Meal kit six times a year.

Champ Meal

Champ Meals are healthy recipes that are distributed to client families every 2 months and include all the necessary ingredients to prepare that recipe. Each meal includes four servings and is easy to make. Our hope is this will encourage a palate for healthy foods and healthy eating habits. Champ Meals also provide an opportunity to learn to cook something new.

The St. Joe’s Champ Program was created in 2010 to provide education and services that will meet the nutrition and health needs of all guests at St. Joseph Food Program.

You can be a Champion Sponsor!

  • Be a Print Sponsor

    • For $200 for one month, you can cover the cost of printing recipe cards for each client family to receive with their meal supplies

    • What does your sponsorship include?

      • Your name or business name on each recipe card

      • A social media shoutout

      • Your name or business name listed on our website with our Champ Meal

  • Be a Meal Sponsor

    • For $10,000 you can provide the cost of one month’s worth of Champ Meals for our client families

    • What does your sponsorship include?

      • Your name or business name included on the outside of each client family meal bag

      • Your name or business name on the homepage of our website for the month of your Champ Meal

      • A social media shoutout

      • Your name or business name listed on our Champion of Nutrition program webpage for the calendar year

Contact Heather Du Vall to take advantage of this opportunity!

Email: hduvall@stjoesfoodprogram.org

Phone: 920-734-9461 x309 or 414-279-6785

Camp Champ is a way to educate not only our pantry clients about nutrition but invite the entire community to join in these interactive and fun ways to learn more about different foods, cooking, and ways to make healthier choices in our everyday lives. This new program has online and in person opportunities, so everyone can join in the way that is most accessible to them.

Visit our Video Library made throughout the history of St. Joe’s below to learn more about healthy eating habits and cooking skills!

Video Library Archive

Camp Champ

Class Calendar:

In-person learning opportunities coming soon!

Food Farmacy

St. Joseph Food Program takes pride in our commitment to offer healthy food to our guest families.  Our guests have benefited from fresh produce, meat, eggs, milk, and non-perishable staples.  We are excited to introduce a new program, Food Farmacy, for individuals with special dietary needs.  With an initial focus on diabetes and heart disease, Food Farmacy will replace the staples bag with a dietician-approved alternative bag.  Those who enroll will receive non-perishables that are low in sugar and sodium.  St. Joe's has also added a gluten-free option as well for those with Celiac Disease or gluten allergies.  For those who have family members who would like our regular staples bag, a hybrid of bags may be requested.

To prevent long-term complications, research shows that a healthy diet is important in regulating blood sugar or managing heart disease.  For some, accessing healthy food can be difficult.  This can have devastating consequences for those who have conditions directly impacted by diet.  The Food Farmacy program was created to help our community bridge that gap.

  • Sugar-free jelly

  • Low sodium soup

  • Low-sugar pasta sauce

  • Whole wheat pasta

  • Gluten-free pasta

  • Unsalted nuts

  • Low-sodium canned vegetables

Current Needs

  • No sugar added canned fruit

  • Ensure/protein shakes (under 7g sugar)

  • Oats

  • Brown rice (plain and mixes)

  • Unsweetened applesauce

  • Anything sugar or gluten free

Grow a Row

St. Joseph Food Program was founded by the idea of providing fresh, locally grown produce to those in our community needing food assistance. To honor our beginnings, our Grow a Row program is designed to encourage our community to grow and donate fresh produce to St. Joe’s. These donation will help give the families of the food program greater nutritional choices.

Families and businesses donated over 55,000 pounds of fresh produce in 2023!

It’s easy to get started and join our Grow a Row Program:

  1. Plant an extra row or potted plant of produce for St. Joseph Food Program

  2. Tend to the plant throughout the growing season

  3. Once ready to pick, drop off the donated produce to St. Joe’s during our donation hours (linked below)

Do you live in a high traffic, walking area? We have yard signs you can use to advertise for Grow a Row and show off your impressive skills! Reach out to Heather Du Vall at hduvall@stjoesfoodprogram or 920-734-9461 x309 to see if your location is a fit for a yard sign.

Backpack Food Assistance Program

1,500 students are impacted by this program each week throughout the school year!

St. Joe’s Backpack Food Assistance Program supplies ready-to-eat or easy-to-heat weekend food to over 1,500 students in nine school districts in the Fox Valley area each week. Students receive 2 breakfast, 2 lunch, and 2 dinner items in addition to fruit and a protein meat stick each week, with high schoolers receiving an additional 2 items. Students are identified by school counselors, teachers, or staff.  The program runs throughout the school year.

Schools reported, through our survey, an increased focus and energy in the classroom along with less student illness due to the Backpack Food Assistance Program.  Having the basic need of hunger met, students are less worried about food and therefore have better behavior at school.  This increases learning in the classroom and provides stability.  

Please click the "Donate Now" button above if you'd like to donate to the Backpack Food Assistance Program!

“I am not hungry for the weekend.”

“The program means to me very much because my family have less worry.”

Outreach Services

Not only does St. Joseph Food Program provide free food through our pantry services, we also provide free food products to other area nonprofits to support their work and lessen their food cost.

In 2023, St. Joe’s provided our Outreach Agencies and Alliance Pantries with 514,874 pounds of food, free of charge. That is equal to a value of $1,070,938!

Outreach Agencies Served by St. Joe’s:

Alliance Pantries

St. Joe’s provides food free of charge to three food pantries to ensure they have supplies to serve their clients in their own neighborhoods. These pantries use the same client qualification process and software as St. Joe’s.