Rhonda Adams, left, and Helen Osborn-Senatus, in the two-lane drive-through.
Dane County’s busiest food pantry will soon triple in size. The River already leads other area food pantries in the number of persons served and amount of food distributed. When it moves into its new, custom-designed building at 3301 Packers Ave. on Madison’s north side in January, it will have 32,500 square feet in which to provide services.
The new facility brings to mind the best of industrial farmhouse style: outside, white and gray metal siding and big black-framed windows; inside, white walls and light wood floors, reclaimed barnboard sliding doors, and lots of light coming in those big windows.
Contrast that to The River’s current 11,000-square-foot space in a rented warehouse nearby on Darwin Road. The pantry has operated there since 2006 and outgrew it even before the pandemic hit. It’s windowless, drab, crowded, and lacks the infrastructure to efficiently store groceries and prepare the number of meals that The River provides…