Food pantry visits surge in Avon Township

Visits to Avon Township's food pantry have skyrocketed since May, but residents' financial difficulties may not be the only reason.

Statistics released this week by the township show the total households served rose from 269 in May to 561 in July. The number of individuals who benefitted from the pantry jumped from 962 in May to 2,188 in July.

Former Round Lake mayor Bill Gentes, a food pantry volunteer, said a lack of income or unemployment likely are not the only factors accounting for the increase in clients.

Gentes said a better effort is being made to publicize the services available from Avon Township, which includes all or part of Grayslake, Hainesville, Third Lake and the Round Lake area.

"We don't do sympathy here," Gentes said Friday during a break at the pantry on Washington Street in Round Lake Park. "We do empathy."

Someone living alone cannot earn more than $1,173 per month to be eligible for the township's food pantry. That income threshold is set at $1,984 for a family of three.

Three meals that should cover three days are distributed at the pantry once every 30 days to those who are eligible. A typical meal box has canned vegetables, cookies or granola bars, bread, peanut butter, jelly, cereal and meat.

Township Supervisor Sam Yingling said the township is aggressively seeking food, and most recently sent letters to 170 potential donors.

One of the larger recent contributions came from Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church in Grayslake, Yingling said. The pantry received 500 pounds of food raised through a children's Bible camp and $662 in cash.

Also in Grayslake, the Prairie Crossing subdivision's Learning Farm has been making regular food donations.

"It's incredibly popular," Yingling said. "Anytime we have fresh produce or vegetables in our food pantry, they are immediately gone."

Yingling said requests for emergency assistance also have risen. Working with the Salvation Army, he said, the township has been able to obtain assistance for some residents trying to pay for food, rent or mortgages.

"We have seen an increasing number of people who are unemployed," Yingling said.