Double Do-gooders

Both organizations donated $650 and provided volunteers to help unload 4,814 pounds of food that was ordered from Northern Illinois Food Bank.

“It’s always a privilege to serve at We Care. It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s organized, and it’s a great opportunity to give back to the community,” said Pastor Steve Cook of Living Water Church of the Nazarene.

“We always say a prayer over the food for the people that will be nourished both physically and spiritually.”

“You gotta give back to the community. We’re fortunate enough that we’re busy during this down economy and we’re glad we can help. We’ll keep helping as long as the need is there,” said Mike Rodosky, owner of United Meters Inc.

“Even though we work 4 10-hour days, so our employees are off onFridays, I’m so proud that they are willing to come in on their day off and help with this important work.”

“We were so pleased that these two fine organizations were willing to work together to be able to provide us with a larger amount of food to stock up our pantry in preparation for the busy summer season,” said We Care’s Denise Gaska. “Most of the children of the families we serve receive two free meals at school each day. During the summer, all of their food comes from home, and their parents end up needing our help even more.”

During the month since the previous Fill the Pantry, We Care had helped 211 families from its food pantry.

We Care receives a monthly delivery of food for the pantry from the Northern Illinois Food Bank. The NIFB is able to provide food to food pantries at prices that are unattainable in grocery stores.

May’s delivery included 13-ounces boxes of cereal for 20 cents each,  12-ounce jars of jalapenos for 6 cents each, and 8.2-ounce boxes of granola bars for 4 cents each.

In addition to the food that We Care purchases with the donations, the food pantry also receives food that is provided for free as part of the Emergency Food Program. The EFP food included items such as beef stew, peanut butter and whole chickens.