Hours
Holiday Distribution Schedule
Week before Christmas: We will serve holiday groceries and holiday meals, in addition to regular groceries, during our normal pantry hours.
Week of Christmas: We will be closed.
New Year’s Week: We will serve regular groceries and meals during longer pantry hours.
NOTE: Holiday groceries and meals will be distributed curbside at The River, located at 2201 Darwin Road in Madison. Clients are welcome to pick up a meal for each household member once before Christmas, whichever day works best. No need to sign up in advance for the holiday meals or groceries served curbside. However, sign-up is required as usual for online orders and delivery.
Inclement Weather Policy
For the safety of our clients, staff and volunteers, The River and all its programs will consider closing when weather conditions, temperatures or in-city road conditions are deemed unsafe by the National Weather Service. Closures will be posted on this page, our homepage, and on our social media channels.
Generally, closings will occur when:
- Severe weather creates safety risks to staff and volunteers performing outside duties.
- Government and/or Public Safety officials issue no-travel/stay-home alerts.
- Local air temperature is -25°F or colder, or 95°F or warmer.
- Local wind chill is -35°F or colder or heat index is 105°F or warmer, regardless of the actual air temperature.
- The National Weather Service issues an:
- Excessive Heat Warning (i.e., when the maximum heat index temperature is expected to be 105°F or higher for at least 2 days and nighttime air temperatures will not drop below 75°F)
- Wind Chill Warning (i.e., when wind chill values are expected to fall to -35°F or lower within the next 24–48 hours. You can get frostbite in 10–15 min on unprotected skin.)
During extended days of dangerous weather, we will make our best effort to open the food pantry for limited periods of time for emergency food distribution.