Sunshine Place

Heading into the weekend with some good vibes.🥰🙏

🌞Support Sunshine Place programs: https://sunshineplace.org/i-want-to-help/

🌞Thank you to the volunteers from OwnersEdge, Inc. and Baycom Inc for helping the Sunshine Pantry program unpack and sort donations from community members! We love it when we can get local businesses involved in our programs and are so appreciative of your support!

👉Are you a local business looking for ways to engage with Sunshine Place programs? Reach out to [email protected] and let's get you started!

🌈❤🌈DID YOU KNOW that LGBTQIA+ youth are more likely than their counterparts to struggle with issues pertaining to housing and food insecurity? Sunshine Place is proud to provide a welcoming and inclusive space for all, and to offer programs that support access to essential needs like these for ANYONE who needs them.

🌞Save the date to visit our table and learn more about our programs and supports at Sun Prairie Pridefest this year, or visit our website: https://sunshineplace.org/.

(Thanks to Sun Prairie Pride Alliance for hosting such a welcoming, annual event)!

Our first Good Neighbor Market of the season was fantastic, with over 800 lbs of fresh produce distributed to nearly 80 community members on a gorgeous, sunny afternoon. 🌞

❤One market guest said that Sunshine Place is "a blessing for the community" and that people are "so lucky to have a place like this to help them."

🥧Another guest took a transit van from her apartment near Hilldale to use the pantry, and stayed to get fresh produce. She was very excited to try recreating some of the rhubarb recipes her mother used to make when she was a child.🥰

Thank you to everyone who came out. Mark your calendars for the next one!

🙏Special thanks to Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin for providing the produce that make these markets possible!

🌞 As we wrap up our school-year food assistance supports and move into summer, we want to say THANK YOU to the incredible volunteer team and community partners who have made the Food For Kids weekend food bag a success this school year:

🍎 Our bag packing volunteer trio: Sarah Rortvedt, Laura Gaumont, and Melissa Porter, packed 1,204 weekend bags in total, which covered 2,408 days of breakfast and lunch for Northside Elementary students!

🥪 Bag distribution happens in partnership with Stacey Christenson, Northside Elementary School, SPASD 's Community School Site Coordinator, and through the support of key volunteers: Kara Christenson, who delivers the bags to the school, and Joelle Kane, who gets the bags to the kids that can benefit from them.

**Please note, last week was the FINAL weekend bag distribution for the school year. Stay tuned for information about Food for Kids summer lunches.

👉Learn more about Sunshine Place's Food for Kids program: https://sunshineplace.org/food-pantry/food-for-kids/

🎉🎉We are SO excited to share the recent recipients of our 4th annual Sunshine Place Scholarship for high school seniors, Katherine Noack and Peyton Vander Steeg from Sun Prairie West High School, and Ishaan Pillai from Sun Prairie East High School!

❤ Ishaan has put in many hours sorting and organizing clothing donations at KiDs Closet over the years, as well as helping to build the new clothing donation bin as a part of Team Anjani. He is currently on the KiDs Closet Youth Board.

💙 Katherine and Peyton co-founded Sun Prairie Meals Matter, which at last count, has collected an incredible 20,833 lbs in product donations and $7,386 for the pantry, even as more donation drives are happening.

Congratulations to all, and THANK YOU for all that you have done for your neighbors through Sunshine Place programs. We wish you the best of luck as you graduate and move ahead to accomplish more great things!

👉The Sunshine Place Scholarship is in honor of Sunshine Place founder, Beth Mielcarek, who helped establish Sunshine Place as a welcoming space for neighbors to find support with essential needs, contributing her time and talents for many years. Recipients of this scholarship have demonstrated this same spirit of volunteerism, compassion and service to others through active, impactful, community involvement.

🌞Are you interested in engaging with Sunshine Place programs? Here's a great place to start:https://sunshineplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ELECTRONIC-5-Ways-to-Engage-with-Sunshine-Place-Flyer_updated-4-13-26.pdf

🌞Please join us in giving a warm WELCOME to our newest Sunshine Place team member, Melissa! As our Bilingual Navigation Coordinator, Melissa will work to connect clients with resources that support housing stability and other basic needs, by helping them navigate Sunshine Place programs and collaborating with community partners. We are so excited to have her!

🥕🍅Our very first Good Neighbor Market is TODAY in the lot in front of the pantry, from 3 PM- 5 PM! 🎉Stop on by, grab some fresh produce, enjoy the sunshine, and say hi to your neighbors!

Thanks to Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin for providing the produce that make these markets possible!