Ruth Schinke helps at the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry near Navarino. She was born in the town of Lessor, grew up in Navarino and graduated from Bonduel High School.
Schinke worked at the former Chilton Toys in Seymour for 28 years and then at Good Shepherd Nursing Home for seven years. Schinke and her husband of 54 years, Ben, are both retired. They have three children and four grandchildren.
Schinke lives near Leeman. She likes to garden and does canning and freezing. She used to crochet and hunt.
Q How long have you been helping at Loaves and Fishes?
A “It’s about 10 years. We started in what used to be the Navarino School. When the Bonduel School District sold it, we moved to Ascension Lutheran Church.”
Q Who helps with the food pantry?
A “We have three churches — Ascension Lutheran, St. Lawrence Catholic and Trinity United Church of Christ, where I belong. All three churches have people who help with it. We have at least three from each church.”
Q What do you do?
A “Mona Ashenbrenner, Judy Berreitter and I are the three shoppers. We go to Dollar General and Aldi’s. If we don’t get enough donations for food, we go to the Shawano Area Food Center. If we have a special occasion, we ask members to help. We always have boxes out for food donations in the church. We try to get stuff like toilet paper that people can’t get with food stamps. We try to buy healthy food.”
Q How often do you work?
A “We’re open Wednesday evenings from 5-7 and Saturday mornings from 9-11 in the same week once a month. Last month, we had a record 27 families. We serve people from Bonduel and Shawano. We go by family size and try to get more food for bigger families. In any emergency, we can help people, like after a fire or other tragedy. We can always use donations of fruit, vegetables, cereal, dish soap and laundry soap.”
Q Why do you volunteer?
A “When I retired I thought I needed something to do, and that’s when they started the food pantry. It’s good to help people.”
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