Food Pantry Director Reacts to State Donation; Asks Community to Step Up

The director of a local food pantry has this message for Morton Grove residents heading into the New Year: We need you.

Cynthia Carranza,  Director and Morton Grove resident, said that a small number in the village are contributing, but that it is "the same few people who are helping."

"What people have to realize is that the people who are visiting the pantry are themselves; it's their neighbors, their friends, their relatives," she said. "I always tell people, this is us, we're the ones visiting the food pantry right now."

"We need to try to wake Morton Grove up a bit. We need them," she added.

This call for greater assistance comes after recent publicity for the hunger issue in the Chicago area.

State's Attorney Office Donates $1.2 Million

State's Attorney Lisa Madigan announced Dec. 20 that her office was distributing $1.2 million to eight Illinois food banks, including the Greater Chicago Food Depository, where Niles Township Food Pantry gets the bulk of its items. The Greater Chicago Food Depository received $655,000 from the distribution, the most of any food bank.

Illinois food banks like the Greater Chicago Food Depository serve a vital role in feeding the hungry across the state's 102 counties, as agencies like the Niles Township pantry and others look to the banks as a prime source for purchasing food. 

"We are humbled to receive this donation as we serve record numbers of people at pantries, soup kitchens and shelters in Cook County," Executive Director Kate Maehr said. "These funds will allow us to purchase nutritious food, including fresh produce, which will be distributed to thousands of our neighbors."

The funds come from a $25 million settlement reached by the state's attorney's office and 22 other states with nearly a dozen vitamin manufacturers that were implicated in a 1990s international price-fixing conspiracy.

Madigan said in a news release that the money would, "help feed thousands of families across Illinois and bring hope to many who are hurting in this economy."

The Greater Chicago Food Depository estimates that every $1 it receives equates to more than five pounds of food.

"These are very tough times and people all over the state are struggling to make ends meet," Madigan said.

The Impact for Niles Township Food Pantry

Carranza applauded Madigan and called the funds allocated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository a "wonderful" gift that boosts the organizations purchasing power and will put more food in hungry people's mouths.

However, she said the $655,000 won't make a huge impact when spread across its 650 agencies.

"That sounds like a lot of money," Carranza said, but for an organization as big as the Greater Chicago Food Depository, "that is not going to have a huge impact on us, or any one agency in particular."

"I'm sure it will help their bottom line and their purchasing power, but as far as that being some big help for us, it won't be," she said.

A Difficult Economy

Hunger is nothing new, but things have gotten worse with the U.S.'s struggling economy and anemic job market.

Illinois' 9.6 percent November unemployment rate was the lowest figure since April 2009. But that number still has a long way to shrink before the job market can be considered healthy.

With many people out of work, putting food on the table has been a heart-wrenching obstacle for many individuals and families.

"It's just been an increase [of need] for over the past three years or more. And it just keeps going and going. And we're waiting for it to level off at some point, but so far, no leveling," Carranza said.

The pantry serves Niles Township, where the 2000 U.S. Census estimated that about 102,000 people live. It includes  all or part of Morton Grove, Skokie, Niles, Lincolnwood, Golf and Glenview.

The director said the pantry's three-person staff distributes about 70,000 pounds of food per month to needy families and individuals, and that amount is growing.

The pantry operates using federal help and charity with an operating budget of less than $40,000, and serves more than 1,100 homes a month, which works out to about 2,700 people per month, Carranza said.

Greater Need in Holiday Season

The holiday season pushes things into high gear.

In November, the pantry served close to 1,700 households and more than 4,000 people -- an "obvious" effect of the Thanksgiving holiday. Carranza said Christmas posed a similar burden, although December numbers are not yet available.

Carranza said "the number of people that were coming, the looks on their faces, their desperation, and [their] need," was "overwhelming."

While she would welcome more direct aid from the government, Carranza suggested that people hold themselves accountable for helping feed the hungry rather than dumping all the responsibility on politicians.

"We need to get up, work together, and work on this problem together and dig our way out," Carranza said. "If people are just going to sit back and wait for some government entity to come in and fix things -- I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon."