Mobile food pantry set for Saturday - Kankakee Daily Journal

Mobile food pantry set for Saturday - Kankakee Daily Journal

The Northern Illinois Food Bank is holding a mobile food pantry from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday in the Lisieux Pastoral Center parking lot, 371 St. Joseph Ave., Kankakee.

A variety of food will be available, and organizers recommend participants bring boxes or bags to carry things out. The event is open to anyone and works on a first-come, first-served basis. The pantries at Asbury United Methodist Church and Wesley United Methodist Church have weekend hours, but it can be difficult for working families to make time for pick-ups.

"In Kankakee, we've seen an influx in the numbers, and this mobile pantry is an opportunity for those families who can't get to our pantries. It's just a different opportunity to get food," said Archana Liggins, area agency specialist for Will, Grundy and Kankakee counties.

"People are working 9 to 5, so we decide to try more weekends and see if we can't get a different population, different families."

Some of the volunteers will come from Victory House, a Christian ministry and home for recovering addicts, and from Faith Movers Church in University Park.

"It's about giving back to the community, and that's what we're really about, trying," Mark Jones said. "The Faith Movers Church, they're coming from University Park to do this and it means a lot to me to see another church coming from that far with volunteers to make it happen."

The Mobile Pantry Food Calendar, and food pantry locations, are available online at solvehungertoday.org. Any interested volunteers can use the site to get involved.

"When we have enough volunteers, they're helping clients to their cars, helping them get around, helping them grab stuff," Liggins said. "The more the merrier. It helps things go easily. The more the merrier."