While browsing the thousands of books, comics and games in OtherWorlds Books and More, keep an eye out for unicorns. Over 200 figurines peer down from the shelves throughout the large bookstore located in Park Place Mall in Sturgeon Bay.
The unicorns are for sale too, owner David Magle said. His wife and business partner Margaret collect them.
The Magles operate the large bookstore on the street level of the mall. The couple also occupies rooms on the second floor, called the Gamers Guild, for gaming enthusiasts to use for free whenever the store is open.
Books and games are doors to other worlds, David said, hence the store’s name. Providing a safe and welcoming place for people to access those doors is a big part of the couple’s philosophy, and altruism drives every business choice, he said.
On the same day the Magles opened OtherWorlds seven years ago, they also set up a “blessing box” area at the rear of the mall, with their landlord’s permission. What began as a shelf with free books, some hygiene products, a few canned goods and boxes of macaroni and cheese is now a refrigerator away from being a full-blown food pantry.
Everything from toiletries and paper goods, to herb and vegetable seedlings, pet food, and a variety of shelf-stable food is available to whomever needs or wants it. No questions asked, no judgement given, David said. The blessing box is based on the honor system and is open 60 hours a week, seven days a week, all year long.
“We know what it’s like to want something and not be able to afford it,” he said.
The Magles are one strand in a web of people in Door County who are connected to food insecurity. Several strands pulled together when the Door County Food Pantry Coalition formed in 2020. It was created as a joint initiative between nine Door County food pantries, the United Way of Door County and the Door County Community Foundation to coordinate individual pantry efforts during the Covid pandemic. (Disclosure: Knock receives funding from United Way of Door County and has received funding in the past through a Community Foundation grant program. Donors have no editorial control over Knock.)
“People don’t understand how much need there is within the glitz and glamour of the tourism industry,” Adam Peronto said. Peronto is a philanthropic services officer at the Door County Community Foundation and oversees the organization’s involvement with the coalition.
While OtherWorlds’ blessing box area is not part of the coalition, it is the only honor system-based and anonymous place to get free food in Sturgeon Bay, Amy Kohnle, executive director at United Way said. (Disclosure: Kohnle is a donor to Knock.)
The nine pantries that are part of the coalition range from larger operations that receive state and federal funding and confidentially track client information, like Lakeshore CAP in Sturgeon Bay, to anonymous pantries, like Door of Life’s pantry in Sister Bay.
Recent USDA funding and program cuts will affect food pantries in Door County whether or not they rely on that funding, pantry volunteers and staff said, indicating the pressure will increase on every part of the local fight against food insecurity. (Editor’s note: Door County Knock is following developments with recent funding cuts and will publish coverage in the near future.)
Quantifying need
Food insecurity is hard to track in definitive numbers, but the people filling the bags and raising the funds to meet the need all say the same thing: hunger exists here, people are struggling and pantry shelves are regularly cleared and restocked.
One way to quantify food insecurity is Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP recipient data collected by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. In 2008, SNAP replaced food stamp benefits. The new program is called FoodShare in Wisconsin.
In 2024, 1,111 households in Door County with an average size of 1.8 people, received SNAP benefits. The average monthly income, regardless of employment status, for a household with two people who received benefits in 2024 was $632.
Another way to see how food insecurity is affecting the Door County community is to look at numbers of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch in school, according to Kohnle. That mechanism is not 100 percent accurate because the free and reduced lunch form for parents and guardians to fill out is optional, she said.
For example, Kohnle said, if a parent packs their child’s lunch but they qualify for free or reduced lunch, they may not fill out the form, leading to inaccurate counts of who is eligible.
According to data collected by the Department of Public Instruction, 39 percent of children in Door County qualified for free or reduced lunch in 2024.
Who is food insecure and why
Food pantries that keep track of clients and those that do not are both reporting a lot of use, and generosity, from the community. In late February, OtherWorlds posted in local social media groups that their shelves were almost empty, asking for donations.
The response was overwhelming, David said. Kohnle, who works next door to OtherWorlds, activated what she said is a loose network of 50 or so local women she knows, and they “got to shopping.” The blessing box area was restocked less than 24 hours after Margaret made the initial post.
Food insecurity can result from a variety of causes, but financial instability and economic factors are almost always the main driver, Kohnle said. The United Way’s ALICE designation (Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed) refers to people who are above the federally designated poverty level, but still not making enough money for basic survival needs.
ALICE workers often live paycheck-to-paycheck, Kohnle said, and struggle in a seasonal boom or bust tourism-based economy like Door County’s. United Way’s 2022 ALICE data also shows 34 percent or 4,772 Door County residents are below the ALICE threshold or are living in poverty.
There is a two year delay in collecting data and breaking it down by county for the ALICE reports, Kohnle said. Door County data from 2023 will be available in June. That delay means there is no perfect picture of what is happening right now, especially because costs have gone up since then.
“There’s a whole bunch at that higher end of ALICE that don’t qualify for any state benefits and with food prices right now, I think that’s really the people we worry about the most,” Kohnle said in regards to food pantry coalition clients.
Sarah Stevenson and her adult son Caleb are two of those clients. They rent rooms in a Sturgeon Bay home and Sarah bartends in the summer and works in fast food service year round. Caleb has a disability that makes it hard for him to find and maintain employment.
“It’s winter,” Sarah said. “The lean times.” The family made their second visit to the Sturgeon Bay Community Church pantry in late February, she said, and it is filling a gap for them when money is tightest.
The mother and son leave the pantry with a wagon full of groceries, including all the fixings for chili that Caleb said he is looking forward to cooking.
Sturgeon Bay Community Church opens its pantry Monday through Friday. A handful of volunteers pre-pack bags with staples and organize shelves, while others greet clients, give recipe and meal plan ideas and help them choose add-ons depending on their dietary needs and preferences.
Mike and Jenni Longley are co-directors of the pantry and Mike said they have seen an increase in patrons this year from about 12 a week to between 15 and 22. They are not always the same clients, he added. Some of them come every week, but others like the Stevensons come more infrequently.
Pantry volunteers emphasize that getting to know the patrons and their stories is intrinsic to the work they are doing. That emphasis is reflected in the interactions on a busy Friday at the pantry. Every client gets a greeting and enthusiastic offers to try new foods available or find what they need.
“When you know people’s stories, you can help with the right resources,” Mike explained, telling one story about an elderly couple who use the pantry and who have no running water.
“There are generational cycles of poverty that you don’t appreciate until you communicate and try to understand the need,” he said. Some of the folks who come to Sturgeon Bay Community Church pantry do not have vehicles and walk everywhere. Or they are formerly incarcerated, trying to start over and struggling. Some clients have substance use disorder or mental health issues that make financial security difficult.
Social issues overlap all the time with food insecurity, Mike said, and there are many reasons someone might use a food pantry.
About 60 percent of the food in the church pantry is purchased with privately donated money, and the rest comes from food donations and the coalition network, according to the Longleys. This includes a weekly delivery from Feeding America, a national organization that helps food banks, pantries and local food programs.
Pantry snapshots
The Door County Food Pantry at Lakeshore CAP in Sturgeon Bay is the largest and most regulated of the pantries in the coalition. It’s a nonprofit program that provides ongoing and emergency food assistance to low income residents.
CAP pantry clients must provide proof of Door County residency and income. In 2021, for a household of two, income cannot exceed $4,310 a month to access the food pantry’s resources, according to the pantry’s website.
CAP’s pantry is supported by local donations, food drives, Feeding America and the USDA’s Emergency Food Assistance Program. USDA funding requirements are why the pantry must follow strict guidelines and keep careful track of pantry clients, according to Sandi Soik, food pantry director. Soik also serves on the board of the Door County Housing Authority.
In 2024, the CAP pantry served 2,488 households and 6,149 individuals, of whom 1,419 were children and 1,131 were seniors. The pantry handed out 104.37 tons of food. Soik said there has been a 24 percent increase in pantry use in the last year.
Hard numbers and the ability to quantify need is one benefit of a pantry that relies on government funding. Stigma associated with using a food pantry is a potential barrier for pantries that do not operate anonymously.
The Washington Island Community Health Program Food Pantry keeps track of pantry users because they receive 60 percent of their funding and food from the USDA as well, Dan Westbrook, pantry co-director said.
In 2024, the Island pantry served an average of 21 households each month and went through a little over 1,000 pounds of food.
In a small town like Washington Island, population 700, everybody knows everybody, Westbrook said. There are people who are very private and do not want anyone to know they need help. While the pantry must track users for funding, volunteers go out of their way to maintain confidentiality by using an appointment-based system for giving out food.
Feed and Clothe My People in Sturgeon Bay also operates as anonymously as possible for this reason, according to Executive Director Estella Huff. The pantry, in operation since 1982, does not receive any government funding and operates by appointment only to respect people’s privacy, she said.
Heidi Pinchoff is the director at Door of Life food pantry in Sister Bay. Door of Life is a 24/7, honor system-based, anonymous pantry. She said she thinks people would be very surprised at how much it is used.
“Food insecurity in northern Door County is so well-hidden,” she said. “We can’t keep up.”
Door of Life church and pantry partners with St. Luke’s Episcopalian Church to purchase most of the food for the pantry, and Pinchoff said joining the coalition was “a game-changer for us.”
Increased buying power for bulk and wholesale items, and more resources overall, are what make the coalition connection valuable, she said. The coalition has also done a good job getting word out where the pantries are located, she added.
Though Door of Life does not track use, Pinchoff is certain that the use is considerable. She said she is seeing the same rate of use now that she did during Covid and there has been a substantial uptick recently.
Pinchoff is in and out of the pantry often and has gotten to know some clients over time. She also hears from pantry neighbors who report traffic going in and out of the pantry “constantly.” She said most of the pantry clientele are working people who cannot make ends meet and it makes her angry when she hears people say they should “just get a job.”
“I don’t know anybody who isn’t working more than they want to be working,” Pinchoff stated. “That waitress? It’s just one of her jobs and her family is trying to survive on 15 percent of your $300 dinner.”
Edee Madsen and Lynda Pietruszka are stuffing Ziploc bags with donated bacon pieces while they talk about Klaud’s Food Pantry at Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church in Ellison Bay. The pantry is open daily and operates on the honor system.
Madsen said they have seen a steady increase in pantry use over the last few years and receive no government funding. The local Lions Club, other churches, the Door County Realtors Association and private donors keep the pantry stocked. A community garden at the church donates its harvest to the pantry as well, Madsen said.
Most of Klaud’s pantry clientele are people who live from paycheck to paycheck, Pietruszka said. She is the youth minister for Shepherd of the Bay and works in the pantry every day.
“What if they have to replace a flat tire to get to work? A good tire can equal groceries for a month. That’s a common thing from many of our families. We are filling those gaps,” she said.
Myths and misconceptions
Filling gaps requires knowing they exist in the first place. Pride, shame and stigma associated with needing a handout from a food pantry is the most significant barrier to getting help to some food insecure individuals, especially older adults, according to pantry volunteers and staff.
Many senior citizens have been taught to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” and not to rely on charity, Kohnle said. With rising disparities between income and costs of living, she said, especially for people on a fixed income in an area with a high cost of living, the ability to have enough money to meet basic needs no longer depends solely on one’s work ethic.
“There’s a stigma associated with folks in need, that they don’t work hard enough or aren’t trying,” Mike Longley at Sturgeon Bay Community Church said. “There are people that have been behind the curve their whole life.”
“You never know what another person is going through. It’s easy to make assumptions if it’s not happening in my backyard or someone I see everyday isn’t experiencing this,” Westbrook from the Washington Island pantry said. “When someone comes to the pantry I don’t ask questions.”
Another common misconception is that the food available at pantries is all outdated or processed and canned food, Pinchoff from Door of Life said. The pantry supports local food producers, she said, and fresh produce and proteins are highly desirable for pantry clients. Those items are the first to go, she added.
The pantries in the coalition also have access to frozen salmon fillets through a program with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Baileys Harbor Fish Company. They partnered this year to take local salmon from the DNR’s stocking program at Strawberry Creek and distribute it amongst pantries. Baileys Harbor Fish Company processes, stores and delivers the fish to pantries.
The salmon is a unique program, and one that clients really appreciate, according to pantry volunteers. Depending on the size of the pantry, each one goes through somewhere between 30 and 100 pounds of salmon per month.
The view that pantry users do not “deserve” anything besides staples or essential food is also one that lingers in the public mindset, according to Kohnle. People experiencing food insecurity deserve fun, special occasion food too, Kohnle said. She referred to a client who needed cake ingredients and frosting for her daughter’s birthday.
“Imagine not being able to make your child a birthday cake,” she said.
Another misconception is that a food pantry attached to a church will try to “recruit” clients, Pinchoff said. All the church-affiliated pantries expressed that there is no requirement to practice a specific religion or join the church, but prayers are always on offer.
“There’s no judgement from us, no strings attached with us,” Pinchoff said. “It’s about feeding people.”
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Mike Longley’s name. His name is Longley, not Langley. The story has been corrected.