An increase in clients has forced the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry to cut back, substituting chickens and turkey breasts with fish sticks.
“We can’t buy whole chickens for 1,200 [families]; we could when it was 800,” said Kathy Russell, who co-manages the food pantry with Michele Zurakowski.
The 1,200 families are from this past November alone, a 64 percent increase from the 788 served in November of 2008. Now, more than ever, the food pantry says it needs monetary donations to provide for its increasing needs.
The food pantry, housed at First United Church, 848 Lake, works with the Greater Chicago Food Depository, allowing it to buy more food than donors can for the same amount of money by going to a local grocery store. According to Russell, the pantry can buy two grocery bags of food from the depository with $4.86, the same price as a box of cereal and a can of tuna at a grocery store.
The food pantry also saves money by putting together a rescue program with the Oak Park Trader Joe’s and River Forest Whole Foods Market. The two stores donate fruits or vegetables that do not meet the stores’ standards.
To assure that clients at the food pantry get as much assistance as possible, the organization is helping others apply for food stamps.
“We’ve really tried this year, “Russell said. “Even though the numbers have increased, this year we have doubled the amount of dairy products and frozen meat products we give to every family.”
In addition, she said they have not backed down from their goal “to provide highly nutritious foods.”
Families of five or less are served two bags of food, which is good for three meals in three days. Families of more than five receive a small supplemental bag of food.
Zurakowski also noted a needs-assessment test the food pantry did within the communities it serves. The test revealed that most clients live in Oak Park, Austin and Humboldt Park. To be sure those people get the assistance needed, many volunteers are required through the week.
Bob Haisman, a retired teacher from Oak Park, has helped the food pantry on Saturdays for six years.
On Nov. 21, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the food pantry served 246 families, Haisman said, a record for most families in a day.
“It’s not a record we like to break,” he said, adding that on most Saturdays there is a line of 150 people outside the church before they open at 9 a.m.
“Any Saturday I work there, it’s hard work,” he said. “You’re tired when you finish a four to five hour shift, but I feel that I get more out of it than I give.”