Josh and Darci Wilson spend their days taking care of others. Josh serves students as the associate principal of Monroe High School and Darci is a stay-at-home mom, taking care of the couple’s three children. In 2022, the family added another layer: taking care of the Monroe community by cooking and delivering free meals.

The free meals began during the 2022 holiday season. Josh and his family were new to the neighborhood and, as avid cooks, they decided to make meals for those in need whenever they had time.

Josh also thinks of the food deliveries as something positive to do in his late mother’s memory. 

“I read somewhere that as we mourn the loss of a loved one, we should try and share the love they would have shared with us with the world around us,” he said. 

“When I go out and deliver the meals, I think of my mom and it makes me feel like she’s a bit closer for a bit. I usually drive from house to house without the radio on and just think of her.”

This year marks Josh’s 18th year in education and his second as an MHS administrator. Before joining the Monroe School District, Josh taught social studies and history. Darci taught at a technical college and worked as an X-ray technician before deciding to be a stay-at-home mom.

Josh and wife Darci alternate the meals they cook. The process begins by choosing a date when they can make and deliver the food. Josh then posts the menu into the Facebook group and anyone can submit an order. After orders are received, the Wilsons contact those who have previously helped the effort by donating of food, time or supplies. Then, a delivery route is created and the meals are delivered.

“We just want to deliver good food to those who need it without obligation,” Josh said. “We never deliver anything that we wouldn’t eat ourselves or serve to our kids.”

Each month, Josh makes a post in the “Monroe, WI neighbors helping neighbors” Facebook group. The posts outline what food is available, when it will be delivered and how community members can request a meal. The post’s comments are often also filled with individuals offering food donations and meal preparation help. 

Colleen Keen, a nutritionist, decided to participate because of her love for serving people — and for the art of baking. 

“My life’s profession has led me to be an encourager and this seems a perfect fit,” said Keen. “For me, food offers an avenue to the heart of showing how I embrace showing my love and compassion for those in need.”

Luke Molinaro, owner of Dairy Queen in Monroe, says he first met Josh Wilson while in the Green County Leaders class. 

He has donated ingredients to Wilsons’ effort and says that the store manager, Adam Gitzlaff, has also played a large role in ordering needed ingredients from their distributor and preparing ingredients for donation. 

“I decided to get involved (with the effort to provide meals) because it’s important to help our neighbors, whether they are going through financial issues, depression or medical problems,” said Molinaro. “Everyone needs a hand sometimes.”

Sherri Hendrickson, a Monroe native and retired Monroe High School teacher, first met Josh Wilson while subbing at MHS. She found out about their meal project through a Facebook post.

Hendrickson and her husband decided to help out by preparing pasta to donate to the meals.

“I believe I attached a note that we loved this idea of helping others, especially those who needed a little boost and weren’t able to get help elsewhere,” said Hendrickson. “I loved that there was total anonymity and that the Wilsons didn’t need to know why you’d like a hot meal. It was important to us because no one should go hungry in this community, and sometimes, even the smallest thing, like a hot meal, could give you a little boost.”

 Hendrickson was also impressed by all the Wilsons have done on top of taking care of three small children.

“I can’t help but think how lucky those little girls are to have two amazing role models and parents as see their generosity in action,” she said. “In a world where we see so much negativity, it’s refreshing to see a genuine offer to help to those in need.”

“Our community is fortunate that many generous people, organizations, and businesses make amazing and grand gestures of kindness, but there are small ways we can all do to help others,” said Hendrickson.

Community members who would like to request a meal should keep an eye out for Wilson’s monthly posts in the Facebook group announcing when meals are available. They can then send Josh a private message to request a meal. Josh said they consistently provide about 50-60 servings each month and have delivered about 700 meals to the community so far this year.

Josh said the Facebook page has been key in allowing him to connect with the community. He also notes several other programs in the community that consistently provide food assistance, including the Green County Food Pantry and Backpack Buddies (for school-aged children).

“We were grateful for the sheer number of people who were willing to donate food, supplies, or make something to go out with these meals,” Josh said. “Monroe is a great community with so many people who truly care about the well-being of their neighbors.”

From the Facebook group to the grocery store, Josh has been approached by individuals and local businesses asking how they can help the effort. He emphasizes that the meal project has been a community effort. Though he and his wife cook the main dish and organize the deliveries, community members have stepped up to help.

“We’ve had people donate a lot of things … the Strunz family just gave us 28 pounds of ground beef. We’ve had people give us desserts, containers for deliveries, donate Aldi gift cards, drop off paper bags, make side dishes,” Josh said. “Whatever we’ve asked of the community, they’ve given to us. Everything that we’ve received goes right back out to those who need it more than we do.”

The biggest compliment they’ve received, he said, was from a meal recipient who said the cooking “tasted like [their] mother’s” cooking.

In this season of giving, Josh wants to emphasize that giving back can be actions of all sizes — even something simple can make a difference.

“This is just our small way of helping those in need in our community,” Josh said. “What is wonderful about all of this, is that there are so many incredible people in this community who were, and continue to be, supportive of our meal deliveries.”