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Donations slow during winter, says Kendall County Community Food Pantry · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: An ocean slow during winter, says Kendall County Community Food Pantry.
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  Written by Joey Weslow, this article is being read by
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  an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. The bitter
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  winter months can be a challenging time for families to
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  get by Following the holiday rush. Food pantries often see
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  a dip in donations just when folks need it most.
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  At the Kendall County Community Food Pantry in Yorkville, the
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  demand is high for food, clothes and money donations, and
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  families need consistency. The pantry, located at two O eight
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  Beaver Saint, serves families from throughout the area. Alex Heard,
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  executive director of the food pantry, said November through December
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  tends to be the when people make the greatest donations,
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  and unfortunately that activity dwindles from January through March. What
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  we need is some level of consistency in terms of
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  ongoing financial donations. Heard said it's hard because people just
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  finish the holidays. We always need ongoing community donations and
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  food donations during the winter months before spring as well.
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  Herd said from Thanksgiving to New Year's many organizations allocate
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  their year end funds and donations, and people throughout the
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  community are in the spirit of giving. Last year's holiday
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  season was particularly crucial because the number of families served
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  began increasing by October, when there was a frieze on
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  snap benefits. Herd said numbers continued to spike through the
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  end of the year. Herd said numbers of families served
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  in January have fluctuated. One week, it went from a
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  high of four hundred and forty one families served to
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  three hundred and eighty families, then back up to four
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  hundred and ten families again. Families in need and people
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  looking to donate are often deterred from coming out because
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  of the cold. Herd said the pantry has a drive
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  through option where people don't have to come into the
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  pantry and shop. They can actually just drive up and
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  receive food. He said the pantry has a twenty four
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  hour donation door where people can drop off canned goods
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  and clothing. The pantry, which is staffed by employees, volunteers,
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  and community members who previously use the pantry, distributes food
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  every Thursday, with both in person shopping and drive through
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  grocery services. The pantry's clothing closet is open on Mondays
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  and Thursdays. The pantry also distributes pet food every other Thursday.
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  Heard said he is extremely proud of the pantry's children
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  focused welcome room with a designated play area, blackboard, and
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  donated books for kids to read and take home. The
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  nonprofit host Facebook drives when they are low on specific items.
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  Direct donations help the pantry by weekly groceries and items
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  directly from the Northern Illinois Food Band, which provides free
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  produce and rescue stores that provide meat and protein produce.
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  You can learn more by visiting kccfood Pantry dot org
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  CHRIN or by calling six three zero five five three
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  zero four seven three