Interfaith distributed holiday baskets to needy throughout Waukesha County

Christmas is over, but the holiday charitable work of Interfaith Senior Programs will resonate into the coming year.

The Waukesha-based agency has fulfilled its goal of giving self-sufficiency items to low income and isolated seniors and adults with disabilities, says Interfaith Executive Director Kathy Gale.

Agency volunteers, 71 in all, distributed 351 bags of much-needed goods earlier this month to the needy in Big Bend, Brookfield, Butler/Elm Grove, Delafield/Dousman/Nashotah, Eagle, Hartland, Lannon/Menomonee Falls/Sussex, Muskego/Mukwonago, New Berlin, North Prairie/Wales, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee and Waukesha.

Interfaith volunteer presents gift basket

Volunteers not only brought holiday cheer to the recipients, but some casually asked about the health and living conditions to see if assistance was needed from other agencies, such as transportation and medical checkups.

Waukesha contained the lion’s share the needy with 178 bags distributed here.

Each bag contained merchandise and gift cards with a total value of $137, Gale said.

Some of the large donors  included Roundy’s, which contributed $5,000 in Pick ‘n Save grocery cards; Kwik Trip, which donated loaves of bread and bottles of water; UPS, which prepared routes and maps to those who received bags; GE Healthcare for energy-efficient light bulbs; the Forest County Potawatomi Foundation, which provided a $5,000 grant.

The present-day Interfaith is an agency that merged in 2007 with RSVP to form an efficient, single agency where volunteer seniors can lend a hand to the needy throughout Waukesha County.

Gale said the merger showed to donors that charitable groups are willing to combine resources, including staff, to provide improved services.

“It gave us credibility in the donor community,” Gale said of the merger.