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People's Resource Center aims to make Thanksgiving a little happier

Posted November 09, 2009 10:00 pm

By Christie Willhite

As a holiday, Thanksgiving doesn't ask much of us - just share a good meal and warm feelings with those you love.

But warmth and gratitude can be difficult to come by when times are tight and the family budget doesn't allow for a table topped with turkey and trimmings.

In November, more than 2,800 DuPage County families will visit the People's Resource Center's pantries in Wheaton and Westmont. With a little help, the agency will be able to give the low-income families a traditional Thanksgiving dinner - whatever their family traditions are.

Although there's a special need around the holidays, the PRC runs the pantries year-round. Partnerships with food vendors and the Northern Illinois Food Bank allow the PRC to stock the pantry shelves at drastically reduced costs. Low-income families can "shop" at the pantries for free, selecting the items that meet their family's tastes, heritage and dietary requirements.

With a donation of $15, the PRC can use its buying power to provide classic Thanksgiving trimmings for a family as well as a grocery store gift card for a turkey.

In addition to the pantries, the Wheaton-based agency offers a slate of services intended to help DuPage County residents in need. From free clothing for adults and children to computer classes to job search assistance to English literacy tutoring to emergency financial aid, the People's Resource Center aims to help families through the economic rough patches in life.

Development director Karen Hill tells us more about the work the People's Resource Center does.

Q. What is your mission?

A. People's Resource Center exists to respond to basic human needs, promote dignity and justice, and create a future of hope and opportunity for the residents of DuPage County through discovering and sharing personal and community resources.

Q. How do you work toward accomplishing that goal?

A. We depend on compassionate volunteers and donors to provide food, clothing, emergency assistance, literacy, computer training and access, job search guidance, art enrichment and ongoing encouragement.

Q. Who do you serve?

A. People's Resource Center is a nonprofit organization that helps those in need in DuPage County.

Q. When and why did the PRC start? How has it grown?

A. People's Resource Center was started in 1975 by a small group of families whose hearts were stirred seeing people in their community struggling to meet their basic needs, so they began buying food and giving it to families in need. They helped 125 families with food, neighbor to neighbor.

In 2009, the PRC served more than 8,202 families with basic needs of food, clothing and emergency assistance.

People also have the opportunity to take steps toward a brighter future by taking complementary PRC computer classes (and receiving a refurbished computer for their home), literacy and ESL classes, obtaining job assistance and art enrichment.

Q. What kind of successes have you had?

A. As one person said recently, "Thank you for all the help People's Resource Center provided us while I was unemployed. You gave me hope!"

Q. What challenges does the organization currently face?

A. People are struggling in this economy and the PRC is seeing more and more families coming through our doors. Many are people who never thought they'd need a food pantry, but due to job loss, illness and other mitigating factors, they find themselves at the PRC. Last year, more than 8,202 families used our services, a 25 percent increase over the previous year.

Q. What do you wish the community at large knew about the organization?

A. The community needs to know that the PRC is more than the county's largest food pantry. As I mentioned before, besides helping others with basic needs, we also offer services to improve their lives and create a pathway of opportunity for their future.

Q. How can readers get involved?

A. Go to our Web site, peoplesrc.org. There, readers can fill out a volunteer application, donate money and learn about upcoming fundraising projects.

How you can help • Donate online at <a href="http://peoplesrc.org" target="new">peoplesrc.org</a>. • Send checks payable to People's Resource Center, with "Thanksgiving" in the memo line, to 201 S. Naperville Road, Wheaton, IL 60187. Vital statistics Contacts per month: 2,800 families visit PRC food pantries each month Budget: $2.2 million Funding: 67 percent from donations, 17 percent from government grants, 16 percent from private and corporate grants; 5 cents of every dollar donated goes to administrative costs Full-time employees: 23 Volunteers: More than 1,000 Wish list: View at <a href="http://peoplesrc.org" target="new">peoplesrc.org</a> To volunteer: Fill out a volunteer application, found online. Pull down "Volunteer" from the top and open the "Volunteer Application" link. You will be called within a few days. Pantry locations: 201 S. Naperville Road, Wheaton; 649 Blackhawk, Westmont Info: (630) 682-5402 or <a href="http://peoplesrc.org" target="new">peoplesrc.org</a>

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