Local Food Pantry Succeeds with Volunteers

If you live in Grundy County and times are tough, there is no need to go hungry. In Minooka, a cadre of God’s angels is there for you, working diligently, driving, loading and unloading, packing and sorting and distributing boxes of food to those in need of it.

It’s the s food pantry, on Wabena Road, just north of downtown.

“We have a lot of poverty in our area,” Minooka Bible Church pastor Dave Jankowski said. “And, we believe that as much as we can, we need to relate to people’s physical needs. . . The Lord has instructed the church to take care of the poor.”

The volunteers, some from the church, some who just live in the community, have been distributing food every other week for so long they don’t even remember exactly when the whole thing started. They do, however, remember the first few pantry boxes only served five or six families.

Today, the pantry has grown to giving around 250 boxes of food staples twice a month.

Lyle Selk has been director of the all-volunteer food pantry for a while. The economy has created a larger need for the extra help the past couple of years, Selk said, and the volunteers have stepped up to meet that need. He praises their hard work and commitment and said it is a pleasure to be able to do the work for the Lord.

“We are so blessed that we are able to provide this food for the people who need it,” he said.

The church even has its own walk-in freezer and refrigerator now, in addition to several regular sized refrigerators and chest freezers scattered around downstairs.

The banana boxes are heavy with donated food from and Panera Bread and Morning Star and items purchased from the Northern Illinois Food Bank by the church’s members. Last week, there were Triscuits, boxed mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, bags of lettuce, Salisbury skillet dinner boxes, apple-cranberry juice, honey nut 0-cereal, Pringles, hot dog buns, a whole frozen chicken, Italian sausage, bread, and much more.

They have an elevator, too, to bring all the food up and down, and tall rolling racks designed to fit the inside of the elevator. It’s a huge operation that has been a blessing many times over to those whose budgets just aren’t making it.

There are people from all walks of life that come in, Selk says, but they all have one thing in common – they are going through some very difficult financial times. Selk said people shouldn’t be embarrassed to ask for the help.

“In this day (and) age, you need to be humble," he said. "You can’t help the situation you’re in.”

Selk said they don’t put people through the “third degree” when they come in. They just need to prove they are residents of Grundy County.

Cathy Steward is a two-year volunteer for the food pantry and said it gives those who work it a great satisfaction to be helping people who really need it.

“It feels great,” she said. “When some of them get their boxes, you can see the tears in their eyes. . . It is an honor for me to help them by doing this.”

The Minooka Bible Church is currently looking for volunteers for a range of help. For information, call 815-467-2205.