Keeping a full pantry

from the Suburban Chicago Herald

CREST HILL MAN'S HOME SERVES AS HEADQUARTERS FOR THE FAMILY OUTREACH PROGRAM, ONE OF THE AREA'S TOP FOOD BANKS.

By Erin Biesen

CREST HILL -- Based in an average-size home, Lawrence George takes on a big job -- working to keep poverty-stricken families in Will County fed.

George decided to run a nonprofit organization from the home he shares with his wife, Catherine. What started out as a desire to help out those less fortunate has led to the Family Outreach Program becoming one of the top food pantries by food volume in the area.

George, the program manager and one of the directors, began the food pantry in 1999 in Romeoville, and after a year it moved to Bolingbrook. Since 2001, the Family Outreach Program has run out of the George home in Crest Hill.


Family Outreach joined the Northern Illinois Food Bank in July 2005. The food bank acquires food and donates it to pantries, soup kitchens and shelters in 13 Illinois counties.

"We monitor the pantries yearly with visits to check proper sanitation, and storage," said Dee Foreman, a representative of the food bank. "It's a high standard to go through to become a member."

The food pantry complies with the Will County Health Department and the USDA. It receives visits by both organizations on an occasional basis to make sure that it is up to par with pest control, the temperature of the freezers and walk-in cooler and the cleanliness of the pantry.

"Food pantries have to comply with the same things as supermarkets have to regarding certain types of food," said George.

Volunteers help maintain the pantry when they come in a day or two before the distribution.

Safeway-owned Dominick's is one of the largest donors for the food pantry.

"Family Outreach was one of the first ones to learn about Safeway's new program and we started planning which ones we could go pick up food from," George said.

At times, Family Outreach would have so much food it would donate some to a sister pantry in Romeoville. Currently, the pantry is running on smaller donations, while trying to make sure that families are getting the nutritional value they need.

Every Wednesday night volunteers come to the house for two to three hours and put the food boxes together.

Everyone gets a banana box full of food. If it is a bigger family, volunteers try to put in a little more food.

Volunteer work

Since the pantry operates one day a week for two hours, volunteers need to make sure that everything runs as efficiently as possible, packing the food the night before helps. They load everything that isn't perishable up in the truck.

The next morning they take everything out of the cooler and freezer and put it in a different truck. Then both trucks move to the distribution location -- the parking lot of AB Gusto's Bar,.

After years of the food pantry operating, George said they are seeing that several families will be represented in one car, almost like a carpool for food.

The food pantry started with distribution to 30 or 40 families, and now it is seeing about 180 families each week.