LA CROSSE TALK PM: Food insecurity in La Crosse schools, county

Central Cares director and success coach Brad Bryan and La Crosse County’s Lorie Graff joined WIZM’s La Crosse Talk PM on Wednesday to talk about food insecurity in the schools and the region.

La Crosse Talk PM airs weekdays at 5:06 p.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk PM wherever you get your podcasts.

We talk with Bryan about running Central High School’s La Cocina food pantry and how he is evolving it into what’s being called Central Cares — a place the community can go to get more than just food. It’s open on Thursdays, except when there’s a blizzard or other reason the school would not be open.

We also discussed with Bryan in studio where students in the La Crosse School District are in regards to free-reduced breakfast/lunch and how much school lunch debt there is as of right now.

Also dropping in was Economic Support Manager Lorie Graff to talk about all the things La Crosse County does to help those in need, including food share, health care, child care and energy assistance. Doing this 25 years, Graff has a wealth of experience in a job that seeks to help the un-wealthy.