Pallet to Palate fundraiser highlights Elgin restaurants while fighting food insecurity

Chefs from Elgin restaurants will offer up local bites Monday to help fight food insecurity during Food for Greater Elgin’s Pallet to Palate charity event.

The annual foodie fundraiser takes place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, April 28, at The Centre of Elgin’s Heritage Ballroom in Elgin.

FFGE is a client-choice food pantry where shoppers can select meat, fresh produce, dairy, deli and shelf-stable items during their visits. They’ve served the region for almost 15 years.

Emily Tyler, the organization’s director of development, said they’re expecting more than 300 people for the event that had been held previously at the Grand Victoria Casino.

“We had to move it because it was so popular,” Tyler said.

The evening features small bite stations from about a dozen restaurants set up around the ballroom. Guests can enjoy everything from filet medallion sliders from Elgin Public House to Italian flavors from Cafe Roma, Mexican food from El Patio, pizza from Danny’s on Douglas, tamales from La Cosecha tortilleria, Duke’s BBQ, popcorn from Mama Lee’s and more.

There also will be a cash bar, live music, a photo booth and raffle prizes.

General admission tickets are $75 and sales are expected to end late Wednesday. They can be purchased online at foodforgreaterelgin.org/pallet-to-palate.

Food for Greater Elgin Executive Director Andres Diez, who took the job about 18 months ago, said the organization has been busy the last couple of years working to meet the growing need for its services.

They’ve essentially doubled the footprint of their warehouse at 1553 Commerce Drive and reconfigured the aisles and queues for guests, while also expanding capacity with a new cooler and freezer.

FFGE has also enlisted more volunteers to help the rising number of people they serve. Diez said last year the organization distributed food to about 140,000 people and are on track to see that number rise to about 150,000 this fiscal year.

Potential cuts to federal benefits like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could drive that number even higher.

“The last time we saw cuts to SNAP, we saw a 150% increase in the number of people that we helped serve,” he said. “People who are living on the margins, many of them on fixed incomes, many of whom are veterans, they’re the ones that are going to be forced to look for ways to help put food on the table.”