Supply meet demand at food pantry, but donations always sought
Before the year ends, FISH Food Pantry volunteers expect to give out thousands of meals for holiday and everyday dinners.
All of the recipients will be there for different reasons, but for the same purpose -- to get food they can't afford themselves.
FISH president Bob Evans said he has heard many of their stories.
"One lady came out here from Chicago. She has eight kids and she wanted a better life for them," he said.
"Now, she walks from the Foxview Apartments where she lives to our pantry for her food. That's over a mile's walk. Still, once a month she treks to the pantry in the Meadowdale Shopping Center to fill her cupboards."
Other stories are told by parents who have landscaping jobs and are laid off during the winter. Some of these families stay around northern Kane County for Thanksgiving, then go relatives in Mexico for the rest of the cold months, he said.
But there are always plenty who stay in Illinois who need food.
"We don't know how the economy will affect demand for food this year," Evans said.
"This is the first week of November and we've already seen an increase in demand. We usually expect 35 people in a day. But we've been seeing over 40."
Keep in mind for every person that knocks on FISH's door, an average of three people in the same family will benefit as well.
"We've had a lot of people say they'd apply for food stamps, but it takes up to two months to receive them," Evans said.
"Now, every Friday we have someone here who takes information with a laptop (computer). They collect it from our clients and send it online. It cuts the time down considerably. People can get their first food stamps within a week."
FISH volunteers give food-stamp applicants enough food to fill their cupboards until their stamps arrive.
Needless to say, FISH volunteers will be busy enough in the next two months listening to the stories and giving out food. They don't have time to put together an advertising campaign, seeking donations.
But fortunately, they don't have to -- because donors also line up at the FISH doors with money, pasta and canned and dried food.
And their stories, or reasons for giving, are the same: they want to share what they have.
Donations flow in throughout the year, but when it's cold and the holidays approach, the benevolence increases with turkeys, hams and other holiday-related food.
"People really take care of us. The regular drives churches and school have carry us through," Evans said.
"Then, we have the special drives. Recently we received 1,800 items from the Dundee Township Park District, and we received another 1,800 items from a Sleepy Hollow family who turns their home into a haunted house at Halloween. For admission, they ask people to bring food."
During its Halloween hayride, park district employees collected food for the pantry. The pantry is open from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. For more information about the FISH pantry's program, call (847) 428-4357.