Like many others, Johnna Taylor is spending the days before Christmas shopping, prepping and cooking.

However, the Milwaukee native has a special goal for the holiday: She will support mothers and families in need by delivering hundreds of free meals to her neighborhood in Milwaukee’s 53206 ZIP code and throughout the city on Christmas Day.

“We want to make sure that the people in Milwaukee are taken care of on Christmas,” Taylor said.

Taylor founded Moms Matter Inc. this year to provide information and support for single mothers.

“My desire is to meet some of those needs as much as I can, offer information where I can, so that women can change their lives for themselves, right, but also for their children,” said Taylor, who has experienced being a single mother.

Partnering with E’sha Cooper of Indianapolis, Taylor has registered people for meals, purchased food in bulk and is cooking and organizing meal deliveries for Monday.

Meeting a need

Taylor and Cooper met years ago when they both lived in Indianapolis, where Cooper organized Christmas dinner drop-offs before the COVID-19 pandemic that fed over 100 people.

Cooper owns Einstein Eckstein Lawn and Tree Service LLC in Indianapolis. After a profitable year in business this year, Cooper was looking for a community in which to deliver meals but had trouble finding a local partner in Indianapolis.

Taylor, having moved back to Milwaukee, saw a need in her 53206 ZIP code and an opportunity to get the word out about Moms Matter.

The 53206 neighborhood, an under-resourced area with economic struggles, is situated on the city’s North Side and includes the Amani, Arlington Heights, North Division/Lindsay Heights and Franklin Heights neighborhoods.

“She was sharing with me her program that she was starting, and then I was like: Wow. That would be awesome if we could just bless the families in Milwaukee,” Cooper said.

They decided to take the giving up a notch this year by attempting to distribute 500 meals. Cooper’s lawn care business is funding the giveaway.

“The vision is to make this a big thing, just helping people experience the love of Christ on Christmas,” Cooper said.

As of Thursday, Taylor had registered 275 families.

Prepping and cooking in a collaborative space

Because of the scale of the operation, Taylor reached out to The Neighborhood Kitchen, 8103 W. Tower Ave., a 4,000 square foot commercial kitchen on Milwaukee’s Northwest Side.

“I told her that I would donate the space just because they do it all out of their pocket,” said Suzy Wagner, owner of The Neighborhood Kitchen.

Wagner said the Kitchen and its more than 50 vendors strive to be a collaborative space that gives back to the community, such as helping the MacCanon Brown Homeless Sanctuary with an event.

The meals consist of baked chicken, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, a dinner roll, dessert and bottled water.

Christmas is “the day that you show up for real. Not before, not after, that day,” Cooper said. “Because that’s when everybody’s feeling it, right? The loneliness is real that day.”