Naperville awards grants to charities

The Northern Illinois Food Bank walked away the biggest beneficiary as the Naperville City Council allocated grants to area charities Monday.

The group is in line to receive $150,493 to help it build a new food distribution center in Geneva.

"They're ready to go and it would only help everyone surrounding in the communities, so the faster that gets done the ... more people will be helped down the road," Councilman Paul Hinterlong said.

The funding for the food bank was part of the $483,478 in Community Development Block Grants and $250,000 in Social Services Grants to which councilmen gave preliminary approval Monday. The block grants come from federal funds while Social Service Grants are from the city.

Between the two programs, the city received 39 applications - totaling about $1.4 million more than was available.

Councilman Grant Wehrli suggested that if the council does not agree to eliminate the city's cultural grant program as he has previously proposed, it should at least use some of that money for social services.

"Let's spend it on things that are ... going to help people greater than the hundreds of thousands of dollars we spend on statues, for instance," Wehrli said. "Right now people need food, they need shelter, they need career counseling, they need mental health services."

Councilmen said they were not ready to make any such changes immediately, but may discuss the issue in the future.

Councilman Jim Boyajian said while there is a need for social service funding, it will always be greater than the funds available and he is hesitant about government deciding for taxpayers which charities will get their money.

While councilmen allocated the largest amount to Northern Illinois Food Bank Monday, they denied the Loaves and Fishes Community Pantry's request for $50,000 toward a new building. Boyajian said the Northern Illinois Food Bank project is more "shovel ready," and the group will distribute food to other food banks in the area.

Loaves and Fishes was still among the highest grant recipients, receiving $60,000 for food.

Councilmen also awarded $75,000 to Bridge Communities for housing rehabilitation projects and case management. Naperville CARES received $65,505 for programs that help people on the brink of homelessness.

A grant of $53,480 went to Naperville Elderly Homes for renovations.

Monday's allocations were preliminary. Councilmen will take a final vote on the grants at their Jan. 19 meeting.