Demand Continues to Increase at Area Food Pantries

After being laid off by  a home inspection company, Frankfort resident David McMasters received food from the food pantry for a year. But after recently starting to do home inspections on his own, he's been giving back whatever he can to the pantry.

“I'm not saying a huge amount,” McMasters said. “Does it still hurt? Yeah. But I do it because there's others that are worse off than me. When my business took off, I just made it a point to give back. I'm not back to eating steaks like I was before, but I'm also not eating bread or doing without like I was at one point.”

He went on to explain that food stamps and food pantry assistance was the only help he received. When he initially went in, “I didn't know if I was going to get (food) that month, I just didn't know, but (program Director) Marifran got me in.” He now feels that making whatever donation he can is “the right thing to do."

McMasters is providing a bit of help as there are challenges abound for area food pantries, with increasing demand but a somewhat stagnant number of donations.

In March, for instance, the New Lenox Township food pantry set a new record for individual visits in one month with 290; that is up from the previous record of 252 reached the end of last year, according to Kathy Johnson, Family Services Manager for .

She attributes a lot of the jump in March to the fact that utility companies can not shut off service for delinquency during the winter months. With that period ending March 31, a lot of families have had to begin payment arrangements for utilities and that means less money for groceries.

Likewise, in New Lenox reports that its Caritas food pantry has seen “unbelievable” numbers, as Church Secretary Sandy Spicer put it, in recent months. Frankfort Township, which also serves Mokena residents, reports anecdotally that they've seen an increase in recent weeks and months.

“We have one come off the program, but then have two more start up the same day,” said George Tolsky, one of two township employees stepping in to help while the Director of the Food Pantry, Marifran Drymiller, is out of the office on leave.

To keep up with the increased demand in spite of sporadic donations in New Lenox, Johnson has had to utilize earlier in the year than usual reserves built by cash donations. In years past, she has not needed to make purchases herself until April while waiting for spring donation drives to bring in supplies (she expects donations from and Post Office food drives in the month of May). This time around, she was buying cases of food in January and has spent $3,000 already so far this year.

The food that she's bought remains at the top of her “needs” list: cereal, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, canned meats, noodles, rice, dehydrated potatoes. April's “featured request” for the month is canned beef stew.

Likewise, St. Jude has had to buy a bit more often recently. With as many as 16-18 families coming in a week when the previous norm was in single digits, the demand “depletes us overnight” Spicer said. She pointed out that with the generosity of the community in general and church parishioners especially, between food and financial donations, they always seem to come up with enough for anyone that needs help.

New Lenox Township continues to rely on the generosity of the community, as well, because it relys entirely on private donations without any general funds being used for food. In addition to the previously mentioned food drives coming up, more than 100 Easter baskets sit in the township offices waiting to go home with boys and girls, full of candy and toys; local Girl Scout Troop 261 donated the vast majority of them. Also for Easter, financial support from Ladies Auxillary has allowed Johnson to purchase a ham for each family to celebrate the holiday with.

Frankfort Township reports that public donations have done well in keeping up with increased demand, according to employee Jodi Gallagher-Dilling. That is due in part to donations recently being allowed as “credit” for service hours that are required by a number of organizations in the area including Lincoln-Way schools, parochial schools and even for scouting projects. Gallagher-Dilling said the township credits four hours of service for the first 10 paper bagfuls brought in with an additional hour for each additional bag thereafter.

Frankfort Township also is providing to each client family of four or more people hams for Easter. In this instance, the township has purchased the hams.