Streatorland Food Pantry seeks volunteers, depends ‘solely on donations’

The Streatorland Food Pantry is ramping up efforts to serve local families as the holiday season is here, and the all-volunteer team is seeking extra help from Streator residents.

For Thanksgiving, the pantry partnered with Streator High School’s FFA chapter to provide almost 200 turkey dinners to local families. The FFA raised funds to provide the dinner fixings, while the pantry supplied the turkeys.

However, with fewer resources available for Christmas, board member Tony Bitto said the nonprofit only will be able to provide what they have, with no special distributions or events planned.

“We depend solely on donations, so sometimes we can’t go the extra mile and do special seasonal distributions,” Bitto said. “Luckily, we had a good donation month in November, but we’ve really been spending more than we’ve been taking recently.”

Bitto noted that the pantry serves between 50 and 90 families each week, many of whom are seeking assistance because of the rising costs of groceries.

Grocery prices increased by about 2.4% over the past year in the Midwest region of Illinois, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“We’re helping a lot of people who are struggling to make ends meet,” Bitto said. “Sometimes people are stuck and they need help.”

To keep up with demand, Bitto said the pantry needs more volunteers, especially during the busy holiday season.

Bitto emphasized that younger individuals are needed to help with unloading food shipments and assisting people, as the volunteer base is aging.

“We’re all volunteers here, but the problem is we’re all getting older,” Bitto said. “We burn out because it’s hard work and we’re there all the time.

“We’ve got a good group of guys that come in to help unload trucks, but we’re always looking to expand our pool of volunteers so we can rotate people in and out.”

Donations of nonperishable food, hygiene products and monetary contributions are welcome. The pantry uses cash donations to buy perishable items such as milk, eggs, bread and butter.

“Our mission is simple: We give what we have to people who need it,” Bitto said. “We’ll take anything we can get.”

The pantry is located at 210 N. Wasson St., just down the road from the fire department. Its hours are from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Monday, Thursday and Friday, and from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday evening.

For more information on how to donate or to sign up as a volunteer, visit the pantry’s website or call Bitto directly at 262-408-1669.

Giving Fence

The Streatorland Community Food Pantry has a Giving Fence, which is a drive to provide coats, hats, scarves and gloves to those in need.

The Giving Fence operates with donations. Place unused items in a ziplock bag and clip to the fence. Items may be taken and used by anyone in need. It is important these donations are brought in a way that helps keep the area neat and organized. The food pantry would like residents to bring items ready to hang, ideally in a plastic bag if possible.

The Food Pantry also has asked that donations not be “dumped” at the location, and that items be carefully prepared for use.