Madison Originals restaurants leading food drive for 4 local food pantries

A group of Madison-area restaurants is giving diners the chance to make a difference in their communities this February.

All month long, over 30 members of Madison Originals, a nonprofit association of local, independently owned restaurants, will be collecting nonperishable food donations for its first annual “Mad Can” Food Drive to benefit four Madison-area food pantries. Each participating restaurant will have collection barrels for donations.

The pantries benefiting from the drive include Badger Prairie Needs Network, Middleton Outreach Ministry (MOM), The River Food Pantry, and Sunshine Place. Madison Originals is meeting the needs of area food pantries who are seeing record demand for their services. This demand is expected to grow in March when extra FoodShare benefits put into place during the pandemic come to an end.

Madison Originals began collaborating with area food pantries, matching them with member restaurants wishing to collect donations for the pantry, based on geography and other needs to collect as many donations as possible.

More information about the Mad Can Food Drive, including a list of participating Madison Originals restaurants, is available at madisonoriginals.com.