Second Harvest

Join us for our monthly community volunteer event.   Second Harvest provides food to food pantries throughout South Central Wisconsin. Since 1986 Second Harvest Foodbank has provided nearly 241 million meals to our neighbors in need in Southern Wisconsin. Friendship Force is one of many volunteer organizations that helps in the preparation and distribution of all this food. We hope to have as many as eight volunteers every last Wednesday of every month from 12:30 to 3:30 at Second Harvest to help out in this effort. Last month volunteers Mary Crave, Gail Holmes and Diane Mertens helped prepare Granny Smith apples for distribution with fellow volunteers from Starion Financial. In addition they prepared and packaged boxes of mixed vegetables. The projects we work on are always varied, and we never know what our tasks will be each time

 

Annual Membership Meeting

Our annual membership meeting will be held on Saturday, April 26 at the Alicia Ashman Branch of Madison Public Library, 733 N High Point Rd,  Madison,  The meeting will begin at 2:00. The Registration Deadline, is Monday, April 21, 2025.  Please join us for this important meeting!

Welcome for Open World Kosovo Delegation

Join us in welcoming our 6 delegates from Kosovo.  They will be hosted in our families for 8 days.  Our committee has also worked hard to develop the required professional program around the topic of Renewable Energy, Security and Market Stability.

This is a pot luck.  Let’s share our best midwestern foods with our guests!   YUM.

Kosovo Open World

Friendship Force of Wisconsin-Madison will be hosting 6 delegates visiting Madison as part of the Open World program sponsored by the Congressional Office for International Leadership from March 28 to April 5th.  We have prepared programming around the assigned topic of Energy Security and Market Stability.  Kosovo has established a goal to produce 35% of their energy from sustainable sources by 2031.  This program is designed to allow them to network with industry leaders in the US to discuss investments, regulation, best practices and anticipate some of the challenges that they will face.

 

Adopt A Highway

The first Adopt-A-Highway clean up for the season will be on Sunday, April 13, We have been assigned a new location just east of Stoughton onHighway 51. Meet at the intersection of Highway 51 and Tower Drive.  This is a quieter stretch of Highway.  You should be able to park along the roadside.  Contact Stephanie Vanden Bush

Book Club

Reading the Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

Dining on the 6th

 

Thursday, February 6, 2025

12:00 noon for lunch

Liberty Station American Tavern & Smokehouse

2161 Rimrock Road, Madison

Join your friends for lunch at Liberty Station, American Tavern and

Smokehouse, a culinary endeavor from Omaha, Nebraska. The menu uses

many locally sourced ingredients, fresh seafood, and high quality meats made

in a custom smoker on the patio.

Please register by Tuesday, February 4, with host Gail Holmes, phone

608 249-1846 or email glholmes@wisc.edu so that we have a place at the

table reserved for you.

Mission Focused Travel

Join us for a work shop discussing mission focused travel.  This initiative grew out of our strategic planning this spring.  Four main priorities were identified to take the organization forward. One of those priorities is developing mission-focused travel and cultural experiences.   Snacks and lunch included.  

Second Harvest

Join us for our monthly service activity.  Each month we sort, repackage and in general give our partners at Second Harvest a hand.  Second Harvest distributed over 26 million pounds of food to Food Banks across South Central Wisconsin in 2024.   The need is greater than ever.   If you can help or if you are willing to coordinate our efforts, please contact Gail Holmes.