Glen Ellyn Food Pantry helps families celebrate Thanksgiving

Annette Young does not know how she would pull off her Thanksgiving without the help of the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry.

The Glendale Heights grandmother used to be a school bus driver. After back surgeries left her unable to drive the bus, she started going to the food pantry to get some help.

And on Friday, in the parking lot of Parkview Community Church, the pantry helped her out even more, giving Young the food she needed to cook a Thanksgiving meal for her family.

The pantry has been giving families food to make Thanksgiving meals for years, Executive Director Susan Papierski said. On Friday, the pantry was scheduled to hand out 500 dinners to those in need.

Pantry clients had to book an appointment to get their share, with guests leaving with a frozen turkey, a box of other groceries to make the rest of the meal and a Walmart gift card to buy the perishable food items.

Customers could also get some donated candy left over from Halloween.

On Friday, residents pulled up in their cars next to the pantry workers, who then loaded the goods into their vehicles.

Katherine Earl of Glen Ellyn also received a Thanksgiving meal on Friday from the pantry. After suffering a stroke, the 61-year-old had to leave her job and started going to the pantry for food. She said the event is wonderful.

"People are inherently good, I really think that," Earl said. "These people are good people. They are and they've helped me and I'm grateful to them."