The 14th annual Holiday Food Drive begins Monday in Aurora.
The drive, done each year to help restock the shelves at the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry, comes amid a community still feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and a food pantry changing because of it.
“Like many social service agencies, we took on the burden,” said Shannon Cameron, the food pantry’s executive director. “There were federal funds, and we got pieces of that. But we depended on our community and the community did step up. We never turned anyone away.”
That, despite a 400% increase in customers since the pandemic started. Cameron said the pantry served 284,000 visitors since 2020. Put another way, pantry officials said one in 10 people in Northern Illinois, including one in eight children, are facing hunger this year due to the ongoing economic fallout from the pandemic.
“It was quite an increase from the past,” Cameron said.
As in the past, the food drive begins Nov. 1 and runs through the day before Thanksgiving, which is Nov. 24 this year. Also as in the past, the drive takes place through three area grocery stores: Prisco’s Family Market, 1108 Prairie St., Aurora; Cermak Fresh Market, 1250 N. Lake St., Aurora; and La Chiquita, 1525 Douglas Road, Montgomery.
Shoppers will be able to purchase prepackaged bags of food ranging from $5 to $15 for donation to the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry. Additionally, the pantry will be accepting monetary donations from the community, getting much-needed food to struggling families in our community.
The tagline for the food drive this year is, “Be a Blessing, Give a Blessing.”
Cameron said that is centered on the idea that while people struggled during the pandemic, some have been surviving it, and have the ability to give.
“Those of us who came out of the pandemic healthy and employed are thankful,” she said. “Not everyone would have the ability to pay for a whole holiday meal, but anyone can help a bit.”
The whole idea of the food pantry’s work is that people can use it in a transitory way - during tough times, they can use it to help cover some of their day to day food costs. If food is then covered, their money can go toward rent, utilities or transportation to work.
“It starts here,” Cameron said. “We getting people fed, so they can solve some of their other problems.”
During the pandemic, the food pantry had to pivot - a word used a lot by everyone during the pandemic - to serve as many of its constituents as possible.
The pantry developed its distributions as a drive-thru set-up, with volunteers filling orders, boxing them and putting them in cars which lined up for distributions at the pantry building at 1110 Jericho Road in Aurora.
There were 750 people driving through on a typical distribution day, Cameron said, which the pantry does twice a week. She added that a poll of pantry clients showed that 75% said they want the drive-thru model to continue.
“It’s like how all retail is going; people like to pull up,” she said.
The food pantry also did something some deemed controversial - pop-up pantries at different locations around town. Some were done at senior centers, and other social service agencies, such as Family Focus and Head Start.
Calvary Church on Route 59 was instrumental in having pop-up pantries, too.
Cameron cited a study that said nationwide, 61% of food-insecure people still do not go to pantries, which she said means the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry needs to be creative to reach people who need it.
Going forward, the pantry eventually will go back to allowing people inside to shop, just like at a grocery store. But also, Cameron said the pantry is looking at a “hybrid model,” that will include a mix of inside shopping, drive-thru and pop-up pantries.
As has been the case since the beginning of the Holiday Food Drive 14 years ago, people can add one of the prepackaged bags of food items to their regular grocery cart at one of the participating supermarkets.
People also can make a monetary donation at www.aurorafoodpantry.org/holiday-food-drive, or send a check to Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry, 1110 Jericho Road, Aurora, IL, 60506 with Holiday Food Drive on the memo line.
Every $1 donated provides $8 worth of food.
Another way to participate is to volunteer to distribute Holiday Food Drive flyers to shoppers at the grocery stores. The level of donations increases significantly when shoppers are handed the food drive information as they enter the stores, officials said.
Many organizations have helped that way in the past, such as Scouts, youth and church groups, and for students that need community service hours.
To volunteer, contact Marcy to schedule a time by email at mrobles@aurorafoodpantry.org or phone 630-692-3056.
The 14th annual Holiday Food Drive is sponsored by Dolan & Murphy Team of Caton Commercial, 95.9 The River, The Beacon-News, Aurora Fastprint, Douglas Carpet One, Gerald Subaru of Naperville/North Aurora and AC’s Pub.
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