Overcoming Food Insecurity with the Help of a Food Bank
“I was a single mom. I was working full-time but still not making enough. It was either food or bills.”
Ellen Croce is a volunteer and former client of the HCS Pantry in Hinsdale, Illinois. Her story is one of resilience and hope in the face of food insecurity. When Ellen first started using the food pantry, she was a single mother struggling to make ends meet. She had two young daughters, one of whom had a heart transplant at the age of two. Despite working full-time, Ellen found it difficult to provide enough food for her family.
Ellen’s situation is not uncommon. Many families in the United States struggle with food insecurity, defined as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. In fact, the Northern Illinois Food Bank, which partners with HCS Pantry, estimates that over 800,000 people in its service area face food insecurity.
Finding Community at the Pantry
Ellen’s experience with the food pantry was life-changing. Despite feeling humiliated and depressed at first, she found that the staff and volunteers treated her with respect and kindness. “They treat you like you’re human,” Ellen says. “They treat you like, ‘Thank you so much for coming in today.’ That is a huge thing for somebody’s confidence for raising children. For me to know that I could take care of my children, and there are people that are not judging you. That’s huge.”
Neighbor, Volunteer, and Partner
Ellen’s experience with the food bank not only gave her the confidence to provide for her family but also inspired her to give back to her community. As she explains, “As well as being helped, I needed to help.” Ellen became a volunteer at the HCS Pantry and helped open a new food pantry in Willowbrook. She credits the food bank with giving her the self-confidence to move forward and help others. “Donors and volunteers are so much more important than they think they are,” she says. “Please keep doing it. Please share it with your family and your friends. Invite them to come and help. Invite them to be a part of being this place that helps our neighbors.”
Neighbors. Empowered.
Ellen’s story is a testament to the power of food banks and the importance of supporting them. Donors and volunteers play a crucial role in providing food and resources to families like Ellen’s. As Ellen says, “Donors and volunteers are so much more important than they think they are. They are amazing people who give their time, their money sometimes, the food. Please keep doing it. Please share it with your family and your friends. Invite them to come and help. Invite them to be a part of being this place that helps our neighbors.”
As we mark the 40th anniversary of the Northern Illinois Food Bank, let’s remember the impact that food banks can have on people’s lives. Let’s continue to support and volunteer at our local food banks and work towards a future where no one has to go hungry.
Volunteer if you can. And keep on donating. It means the world to people.
Healthy Foods – And A Taste of Home
What are you hungry for? Rice cakes and seaweed? Masala marinade? In our diverse communities, our neighbors derive nourishment and cultural connections from a wide variety of foods. Which means, at Northern Illinois Food Bank, we need to make sure the shelves are stocked with foods that are culturally appropriate for all of the neighbors we serve.
So, we do polling. We rely on research and census data. And we invest in communication, education and outreach—encouraging our food pantries to learn more about the cultures they are serving, the holidays they are celebrating, and the foods people are asking for.
Thank goodness for our wonderful partners! One food donor is now helping keep us stocked with rice cakes, seaweed, and fish sauce. Another is supplying chili pods, tofu, and masa flour. And a local produce vendor is supplying delicacies like mangoes, jalapenos, and Mexican squash. Local farmers are even stepping up and growing some amazing new crops!
We don’t all eat the same foods. But we all share a commitment to feeding our neighbors and ending hunger in our communities. The more we stock the shelves with healthy, appropriate, and culturally affirming foods, the more we help make sure no one goes hungry. Thanks for all you do to support our work!
Neighbor Victoria’s Story
Victoria, a former teacher, and her husband, an electrician, relocated to Illinois with their three young children, ages five, seven and nine. After a client failed to pay her husband for a significant $17,000 project, Victoria and her family found themselves searching for answers.
“I would personally like to thank you [donors and the Northern Illinois Food Bank]. It actually brings tears to my eyes because our family was really struggling. What you’re doing here has not only sustained us food-wise, but it’s also given me hope as someone who didn’t used to be in a position of need. And now I am.”
Victoria is thrilled with the quality and variety of food she found at the Glen Ellyn Pantry, one of the 900 food pantries, soup kitchens and feeding programs in our network.
“Last week, there were avocados. There are tomatoes. This week, there’s cantaloupe. I’m just thanking God that there are these expensive organic fruits and vegetables available to us at our time of need.”
Victoria even found ingredients for a special Valentine’s dinner: “And then I saw that the food pantry had given us all these lovely pork chops with pesto butter.”
As new folks to Illinois, making friends and connecting to people are important to Victoria and her family.
“There are a lot of very gracious folks at this particular pantry. One of the ladies is a realtor and she and I always have excellent conversations. The folks [who] are in charge are just really lovely. And that just really blessed me.”
With three kids in school, Victoria appreciates the school lunch program but finds the summer times more difficult: “The kids in the summer don’t get free lunches at school, so…it’s even harder to make ends meet in the summer.”
Before receiving help from the food pantry, Victoria noted that “we had almost nothing in the refrigerator, and I just didn’t want my kids to experience that. It was tough. And now that we come here, we have enough on a regular basis.”
The food pantry allows Victoria to save money and work toward a new career in nursing after many years of teaching. “I’m a licensed teacher. I’ve worked with kids for about 19 years. I’m pursuing, through the community college, a second career in nursing.” The money Victoria saves by visiting the food pantry she can use to go back to school and pay for other family expenses.
Rising costs have made pursuing career goals more difficult, “The cost of living here going up has really made it challenging to buy food. This [food pantry] really makes it possible for us to pay rent.”
“My husband works full time, and I’ll be going back into the workforce.” But for now, the food pantry helps Victoria and her family make ends meet: “Your generosity is helping people that really are hardworking.”
Neighbor Story: Markius
Twenty-five-year-old Markius works at a music store while trying to make it as a musician. He and his brother live together while renovating a home for their mother.
After graduating from college in 2020, Markius lost his job and had to move back into the house he’s now fixing. As Markius described, 2020 “put everything on a sort of standstill, but that standstill didn’t mean I didn’t pay bills. That standstill meant I just don’t progress this year.”
If Markius didn’t have the help from the food bank, he would not be able to follow his dreams as a musician.
“Well, if the food bank wasn’t here, I definitely wouldn’t be a musician. My life would be a nonstop, like a nine-to-nine factory job.”
By getting help, Markius can pay for gas, taxes, and other living expenses. “There are a lot of people like me that have loads and loads of potential, loads and loads of creativity and drive, that are being held back by a situation. Thank you for giving me the options and freedom to actually progress in life.”
Markius added that without the food pantry, “I wouldn’t have the option or the time to better myself.”
Of course, rising costs have made life harder. “It’s not a choice whether or not you want to eat. So, it was surprising to me that so many people just spend all their money on food.”
For some folks, the stigma of going to a food bank prevents them from getting help. Markius explained that he didn’t grow up with that idea. He grew up in a very poor area where he saw neighbors helping each other out to get food. At church or at school, people often worked together to solve food challenges. For Markius, getting help with food expenses enables him to invest in his life, to have options and the freedom to progress in life. That’s an empowered neighbor.
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