Food pantries have become a resource for families who’ve experienced unexpected job loss due to COVID-19. Many of these pantries depend on donor support to help meet the needs of their clients. The DeKalb County Community Foundation recently gave the Northern Illinois Food Bank $9,867 to help it do that.
Hester Bury is the food bank’s director of corporate and foundation giving. She says many food pantries needed more storage during this time.
“Having freezer and cooler space is particularly important as a lot of the donations that we are able to get to them -- come to the food bank and then we pass on to our food pantries -- are perishables right now,” she said.
She says the food bank is contributing to three pantries: The Salvation Army, Bethlehem Feed My Sheep and the Hinckley Area Food Pantry.
Bury says The Salvation Army will receive $5,379 for a trailer and two freezers.
Bethlehem Feed My Sheep will receive $2,925 to help buy a three-door cooler. And Hinkley Area Food Pantry will get $563 to purchase electronic tablets. Bury says the tablets will help with client registration.
Bury also says Grow Mobile DeKalb will receive $1,000 for food distribution carts.
Including the donation to the food bank, the Foundation -- thanks to the generosity of its donors -- this spring gave $125,619 to local nonprofits and community organizations.
The DeKalb County Community Foundation is an underwriter of WNIJ.