Rooted In Inc.

Our new website is live 💚

We rebuilt it to make our work easier to understand.

If you’ve ever tried to explain what Rooted In does, this is a simple place to send people:

We recover high-quality surplus food.
We transform it into nourishing, individually packaged meals.
We share those meals through trusted community food access partners.
And if there is food we can't use in our meals, we share it directly with our partners.

Finally, we help build food skills that make nourishment more practical and accessible.

The new site gives you a clearer look at the model, the mission, and the different ways to get involved.

Visit the new site to learn more, volunteer, donate, or share Rooted In with someone who should know about the work.

🖥️ https://rootedininc.org/ 💚

Every growing mission needs the right partners around the table.

We’re grateful to welcome Catalyzt. A Nonprofit Collective as a partner in our next chapter 💚

Sean, Tara, Adri, and the Catalyzt team are supporting our development and fundraising strategy, helping us build the structure needed for long-term sustainability and greater impact.

Their work will help us think more clearly about how we invite donors, businesses, and community partners into the mission.

Because the need is growing
And we're growing with it.

To keep recovering high-quality surplus food, preparing meals, and strengthening food access across greater Green Bay, we need strong systems behind the work.

Thank you, Catalyzt, for helping us build them.

Rooted In is growing, and we continue to need more hands to help move the work forward. 💚

Thank you to WBAY TV-2 and Kristyn Allen for sharing this story about our expansion into a larger commercial kitchen space at Curative Connections and our need for more volunteers.

As we grow, volunteer support is becoming even more important. Without volunteers, our model doesn't work.

The story also highlights one recent example of what this work can make possible: 1,200 pounds of food recovered after the Luke Combs concert at Lambeau Field.

That food did not go to waste.

It is now part of the work happening in our kitchen.

Read the story and learn how you can get involved: https://www.wbay.com/2026/06/02/green-bay-food-recovery-organization-seeks-volunteers-it-expands-operations/

Rooted In continues to grow 🌱

We’re excited to welcome Jordan Ogren to our Board of Directors!

Jordan brings experience in marketing, brand strategy, storytelling, and communications. He has a strong ability to help organizations clarify what they do, why it matters, and how to invite others into the work.

He's helped Rooted In shape clearer messaging around our model: recovering high-quality surplus food, transforming it into nourishing meals and sharing it through trusted community partners.

We’re grateful for Jordan’s guidance and excited for the perspective he will bring as Rooted In continues building a stronger, more connected local food system.

Welcome to the board, Jordan 💚

A printer and a locker may sound simple.

But for us, they help support the real, everyday work that happens between food recovery, meal preparation, partner coordination, and community distribution.

Thank you to InitiativeOne for generously donating a printer, and thank you to Drury Designs Inc for donating a locker.

We are deeply grateful for the businesses and neighbors who see a need and help meet it.

This work is community-built, and gifts like these help make it possible.

Thank you 💚

176,382 pounds.

That is what Titletown Branch 619 offices collected through this year’s Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive for area community pantries.

And even more meaningful: that is 20,929 more pounds than last year(!)

We were grateful to receive 2,700 lbs, which went to 3 The Fridge community refrigerators, Table of Plenty Green Bay, Resurrection Lutheran Food Pantry, and Freedom House. The remainder will be used in our meals.

To every letter carrier, volunteer, donor, member, and neighbor who filled a bag, sorted food, moved boxes, or helped get food where it needed to go: Thank you.

Community food access does not happen because of one organization
It happens because people show up in practical, generous ways.

We’re grateful to be part of a community that keeps choosing to care for one another.

Thank you to the National Association of Letter Carriers, Titletown Branch 619, and everyone who helped make this year’s drive such a success 💚

(We’re looking for steady volunteers to help 💚)

Rooted In runs on people power.

Every meal shared, every pound of food recovered, and every partner delivery happens because volunteers are willing to show up and help make the work possible.

We’re looking for volunteers who can commit to one day a week. That could be a full day, part of a day, or even the same few hours each week. What helps most is consistency.

Volunteer opportunities include:
- Recovering high-quality surplus food
- Meal production and packaging
- Meal and food distribution
- Kitchen organization and inventory support
- Administrative support, communications, donor, and volunteer database management, and grant writing

Culinary experience is helpful, but not required. We can teach you what you need to know!

If you can give a few hours each week, your time can make a real difference for neighbors across our community while helping ensure good food nourishes people instead of going to waste.

Volunteer here: https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/GpYvTnijdTGC40OzpcY-fg

Food access is becoming harder for too many families in Brown County.

Local food pantries have seen a 30% increase in demand over the past year, with another 10% increase already seen in 2026.

At the same time, SNAP/FoodShare participation in Wisconsin has dropped by more than 6%, representing roughly 1,485 fewer individuals in Brown County receiving benefits each month.

That gap matters.

It affects families, children, health, farmers, grocery stores, small businesses, and our local economy.

At Rooted In, we recover high-quality surplus food, transform it into nourishing individual meals and redistribute them through trusted community food access partners.

And through a $60,000 Connecting Farms to Families Grant from Task Force, we're also purchasing food directly from Wisconsin farmers and producers, helping more local meat, eggs, dairy, produce and nutrient-rich foods reach neighbors facing hardship.

This is what a stronger local food system can look like.

Neighbors helping neighbors
Farmers feeding families
Communities choosing care over indifference

Read Selena Darrow’s full letter on why this moment matters: https://mailchi.mp/rootedininc/jan2025-17241875?e=2d46a2a8fa

After the TWO Luke Combs concerts at Lambeau Field last weekend, Rooted In recovered surplus food from TWO sources onsite. Delaware North and the catering company serving the concert crew.

In total, we recovered 1,239 pounds of high-quality food. Food that would have otherwise gone to waste.

Some of that food will be used to prepare our scratch-cooked, individually packaged meals.

The remainder was also shared directly with The Salvation Army of Greater Green Bay, the Soul purpose community refrigerator, and The Fridge at Joannes Park.

Food prepared for a major community event can still nourish people instead of ending up in a landfill. That’s exactly the kind of practical, community-based food recovery work Rooted In was built for.

Recover surplus food.
Transform it into nourishing meals when possible.
Share food through trusted community partners.
Reduce unnecessary waste along the way.

Huge thank you to Delaware North and Al Goetz for helping make this recovery possible, and to the volunteers who showed up ready to move food with care. 💚

Have a few hours of time today, tomorrow or Fri? We have lots of fresh food to process and distribute into the community.

Any help is appreciated!! Thank you

Sign up below!

Food Preparation Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up. Thank you!