Food pantry holds open house at new home in long-time La Crosse grocery store

Generations of La Crosse residents have bought groceries inside a store at the intersection of Gillette and George Streets.

Most recently, it was Gordy’s Market. Now, after a major makeover, the building remains a food store, but it’s now the WAFER community food pantry.

The organization hosted an open house on Wednesday, prior to the start of regular business on Monday, and WAFER director Erin Waldhart has some goals for the new location. Her three main objectives: “A dignified shopping experience, improved safety for our volunteer staff and patrons, and then also that we don’t flood any more.”

WAFER’s previous home, near the riverfront, is in an area prone to flooding. Remodeling of the George Street supermarket began about a year ago.

Waldhart says COVID caused the number of visitors to the old WAFER location to drop sharply, but those numbers have gone up again in the last year. She estimates that about 1500 area families a month obtain food and supplies from the pantry.