Elgin Golden K Kiwanis aid food pantry

Every Wednesday, Mel, 94, makes his way to the basement of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on Center Street in Elgin.

He usually arrives at about 8:30 a.m. to meet with other members of the Elgin Golden K Kiwanis Club. They share stories and updates over a 50-cent cup of coffee and half a doughnut. At the meeting, which starts promptly at 9 a.m., they discuss business and have a presentation about issues and services in the Fox Valley area.

The club meets not only for information and fellowship, but also for service to their community. They raise several thousand dollars each year, which they distribute to community-focused charities. Their work does not stop there, however. They also volunteer at several local agencies, with emphasis on serving children.

One such long-standing relationship is with the All Peoples’ Interfaith Food Pantry, situated in the First Congregational Church on Chicago Street in Elgin. Regularly, they volunteer to assist with helping clients Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Each month, one Wednesday is designated as a food day when members bring cans of food for the pantry. When necessary, they organize a group to pick up food from Aldi Foods with funds obtained from pantry funds.

They collect between $2,000 to $3,000 worth of canned food, bring it back to the pantry and stock the shelves for future distribution. This past year, the men also spent several days painting the food storage area to make it brighter and client-friendly.

The All Peoples’ Interfaith Food Pantry has been helping families with food for many years. The Golden K’s support of this cause has been steady during that time. They have records of special effort made by this club during hard times in 1982 when unemployment was 10.7 percent. Then, the pantry was located in the old Elgin High School.

In recent times, the decline of the economy has led to another increased demand for services. Many seeking help are young and recently unemployed or underemployed. Kiwanis clubs emphasize “serving the children of the world.”

Working with the food pantry is a perfect way to achieve this important purpose. Recent studies in the U.S. and New Zealand indicate that diet deprivation early in life leads to intellectual, physical, social and psychological deficits in later life. Food is a basic need for a wholesome development, a truth reiterated when, on a recent visit, a 4-year-old who had come with his mother exclaimed, “Oh boy, food!” when he saw the well-stocked shelves.