Niles Township Serves Over 6,400 People, Distributes Groceries

From Niles Township:

SKOKIE, IL — Only a few months ago, the Morton Grove property at 8300 N. Lehigh Ave. was occupied by an empty sprawling warehouse once home to companies no longer in business there.

Thanks to Morton Grove, which gifted this property, it rapidly has transformed into Niles Township Government’s Pop-Up Food Pantry where supplementary food and household products are made available to those in need during the unprecedented and difficult time of Covid–19.

The Pop-Up Food Pantry has become a shining example of what can be accomplished when a community and its multiple partners of multiple towns come together for the common good.

Niles Township has been working with villages, schools, health departments, police and fire leaders, local and state legislators and residents-turned-volunteers ever since the spread of Covid–19 created a need — all the more exacerbated by the abrupt closing of schools.

The Township’s population of children receiving free or reduced-price school lunches is significant. In fact, the percentage at some school districts exceeds 50 percent so it became urgent for the Township to become a reliable resource for families in need.

That need can also be measured by numbers.

Since just mid-March, Township officials said, the regular Township Food Pantry has served more than 6,400 people to go along with the additional groceries available at the new supplemental distributions.

“As many know, looking out for our most vulnerable neighbors has always been at the heart of why Niles Township exists,” said Niles Township Supervisor Bonnie Kahn Ognisanti. “In this time of national emergency, we take our mission very seriously and continue to provide essential services as best we can while at the same time protecting our valued staff and volunteers.”

But Ognisanti also said that the Township’s weekly grocery distribution events — one held at the new Pop-Up Food Pantry in Morton Grove and the other outside the Township’s regular food pantry in Skokie — would not have been possible without an all-hands-on-deck community ethos.

Weekly Grocery Distribution

Each Wednesday at the Pop-Up Food Pantry, volunteers work alongside Niles Township representatives; they prepare boxes and bags and bring them to the street where other volunteers perform curbside service by loading the groceries into awaiting vehicles.

A few hours later, volunteers and Niles Township representatives join together again at the Township Food Pantry to provide the same boxes and bags of food and household products to more Township families in need.

The day before the Wednesday Distribution Day, volunteers and Township representatives pack boxes at the Pop-Up Pantry so they are ready to go the following day.

“As a community, we really need to set the example for each other, and on that same vein, I have children and I want them to know that in times like this when things are uncertain and people might be nervous and scared that, still, this community comes together,” said Les Andrews of Morton Grove, an employee of Madison School.

Andrews has been one of the most reliable volunteers since the emergency grocery effort first began. But he’s hardly the only one.

School superintendents, teachers and students, state legislators and local elected officials, Township trustees and religious leaders have all come to volunteer at these important supplemental grocery distribution events.

“I’m an aide at Niles North High School and lots of kids in my classes are on free and reduced lunch,” said Cindy Fey who lives in Wilmette. “I’ve spread the word about this as much as possible on social media because I’m concerned about them getting enough to eat.”

“Just the thought of anyone being hungry, mothers worrying about feeding their children — it’s just unbearable to me,” added volunteer Lisa Coleman of Skokie. “I just wanted to do what I can.”

As Gov. J.B. Pritzker put into place a state shelter-in-place mandate and then extended it, and as CDC recommendations about social distancing and wearing masks grew more urgent, those working the supplemental grocery distributions adjusted.

All volunteers wear gloves and masks. There is no client contact at the new Pop Up Food Pantry, which allows those picking up groceries to remain inside their vehicles. Precautions are also taken at the Skokie distribution event.

“We all need to pitch in to help our communities and help people in difficult times,” said Niles Township Trustee Peggy Tolleson who volunteers every week.

A United Response

The sight of volunteers from all walks of the community working together to help those vulnerable is only part of the inspiring story taking place in Niles Township.

Shortly after it was known that Covid–19 would create significant challenges — and even before the schools were closed — leaders in the Township from different agencies in different villages met to formulate a coordinated response.

The Pop Up Food Pantry was possible only because the village of Morton Grove identified the property and then brought it into shape in practically no time — just one example.

Niles Township High School District 219 continues to spearhead a weekly conversation among diverse leaders in multiple towns to compare notes and plan together.

In getting the grocery distribution off the ground, Skokie Human Services Director Beth Lindley helped sign up volunteers while Skokie Health Director Dr. Catherine Counard offered invaluable expertise.

Instrumental in creating a coordinated response to Covid-19, Lindley said that the strong partnerships that were already in place in Skokie and throughout the township have served the community well.

“We’re so grateful for these partnerships,” she said. “We rely on each other and that has helped with our response. We’ve also had so many great examples of neighbors helping other neighbors in our community.”

(Skokie recently launched a Skokie Spirit Shines Through campaign to celebrate these positive stories).

In addition to the Food Pantry providing supplemental food, the local libraries “intently amplified” efforts to communicate with the public; the schools have been consistently approachable and many have provided their own food to families in need; and residents have been ready to help in many ways, Lindley said.

That Skokie is one of few state-certified municipal health departments in Illinois has also been a big advantage to the community, Counard said, adding that the township also benefits from its strong partnership with NorthShore University HealthSystem’s Skokie Hospital. The area also has a variety of other key health resources in place such as the Erie-Evanston Health Center and more.

She called the relationship among partners within the township and even statewide “a blessing” — made even more so in this kind of critical environment.

“The heart of our mission is to help make sure that no one in need is overlooked,” Ognisanti said. “When we see an emergency like the one that we’re all experiencing together caused by Covid–19, we step up and step in to help.”

During this crisis, she said, it’s been “exceptional” to see so many working together.

“This is a special place,” Ognisanti said. “We take care of each other and we support the institutions that are in place to ensure that we are always ready to do this good work. ”

Without the community’s “all for one and one for all” effort, as village of Skokie Spokeswoman Ann Tennes calls it, the Township and other agencies would be much more limited in the services they could offer.

“It’s been so important for all of the organizations and all of the volunteers who have been helping us to come together as one,” said Niles Township Food Pantry Manager Tony Araque, who runs the weekly food distribution events.

“It would have been impossible for the Food Pantry staff to get these food distributions done alone. The way we’re doing this at such a high volume — it’s absolutely necessary for everyone to get together and provide a united response to this lockdown and this horrible thing that’s going on.”

The area’s response to Covid–19 hasn’t just taken a village — as the saying goes — but multiple villages along with multiple other partners all working toward a common goal: Making sure no one in Niles Township slips through the cracks.

This release was produced by the Niles Township Government. The views expressed here are the author's own.