After announcing the retirement of its longtime chief executive officer
Sherrie Tussler on Tuesday, leaders at
Hunger Task Force on Thursday announced that associate director,
Matt King assume the nonprofit’s top leadership post in June, following Tussler’s retirement.
King, who supports the nonprofit’s day-to-day operations and is part of its leadership team, working on strategic planning, staffing, training, and development, has spent nearly 20 years in anti-hunger leadership. Before joining Hunger Task Force in 2012, the Milwaukee native spent roughly four years as the volunteer services manager at the Oregon Food Bank. One of the projects King has focused on during his 14 years with Hunger Task Force is developing the nonprofit’s farm and fish hatchery at 9000 S. 68th St. in Franklin. He was also instrumental in securing and renovating the organization’s new emergency food distribution center at 5000 W. Electric Ave. in West Milwaukee, Tussler said.
“It’s been 12 years since I recruited Matt for this position. He first came back home from Oregon to work on our signature project out at the farm,” Tussler said Thursday morning, standing in the middle of the distribution center stacked high with food. “Most everybody knows that the farm grows beautiful produce, but very few people realize how hard it is to be a farmer, and our farm staff work like none other. Then, Matt came over here during the pandemic and became our associate director and helped us reorganize. … During all that time he stayed true to purpose, and I am excited about the fact that he will replace me as CEO. He is a great guy, a local guy, and a dear friend.”
Addressing Hunger Task Force employees and members of the media, King thanked Tussler for her leadership, and the organization’s donors, workers, and volunteers for their support.
“One thing that Sherrie has taught us is that fighting hunger is a community effort, and it takes the involvement of so many,” he said. “Hunger Task Force is here because no one should be hungry. Parents shouldn’t have to feed their kids and go hungry in the process, because they can’t afford to feed themselves as well; seniors shouldn’t have to go hungry because they can only afford their medications; and working families shouldn’t have to go hungry to keep a roof over their heads. So today, we celebrate Sherrie, knowing that our work continues.”
Established in 1974, Hunger Task Force works to prevent hunger and malnutrition by providing food to people in need today and by promoting social policies to achieve a hunger-free community tomorrow, according to its website.
In 2022, the nonprofit completed its move to its new 120,000-square-foot headquarters in West Milwaukee. That building now serves as a single, central site for HTF’s emergency food distribution, volunteerism, food donations, advocacy, and community engagement. The move from its former headquarters – 201 S. Hawley Court in Milwaukee – nearly doubled the organization’s space. HTF provides food to 75 food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters, and advocates for anti-hunger policy at the local, state, and federal level.
Not done yet
As King prepares to take the reins, Tussler said she’ll be around to help him and the organization in any way she can.
After a summer break that Tussler said she plans to spend at a new house that sits “across the street from a beach,” Tussler said she plans to return to the organization part-time in the fall as CEO emeritus.
“I’m going to stop on my 65
th birthday, which is June 5. I’m going to take the summer off, and then come back in the fall and work for as long as these guys need me to, but no less or more than a year,” said Tussler, who has led the organization since 1997.
