St. Charles District 303 steps up to support local food needs

A truck backed up to the loading dock at the St. Charles Public Library Monday afternoon, packed with about 25 tubs and boxes of nonperishable food.

It was the first load of donations from schools and the administration building in St. Charles Unit District 303.

District 303 spokesman Michael Vaughn said Superintendent Paul Gordon sent a message just days before asking all students and staff to bring nonperishable items on Halloween.

And they did.

“I think it’s wonderful,” said Kristi Niedzwiecki, who does social media for the library. “That’s amazing.”

All 17 schools and the administration responded, Vaughn said.

Library spokeswoman Pam Salomone said the library’s pantry — known as the St. Charles Public Library Community Cabinet — was installed in February.

The cabinet was created by Aidan Miller of Troop 13 as his Eagle Scout project, Salamone said. Food is available to anyone while the library is open.

“We had no idea there was so much need for the food — the food insecurities in our area,” Salomone said.

“We were having a hard time keeping it full because there was so much need,” Salomone said. “So we reached out to the community, asking if they would like to sponsor the food for a month and do a donation drive.”

She said businesses and nonprofits wanted to donate and help out with food.

Then the library relied on the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce to send out an email blast, opening up the possibilities for even more support.

District 303 took on the month of October, setting it up as a challenge for schools, teachers and parents to bring in one item on the last day of the month, Salomone said.

The district did a video to promote the food drive, and Niedzwiecki circulated the information on social media.

Businesses that have sponsored the community cabinet so far are: the St. Charles Rotary Breakfast, Kendall’s Kindness, St. Charles Public Library Foundation, Random Acts Matter, St. Charles Women’s Club, St. Charles Area Chamber of Commerce Women’s Business Council, Reading Rainbows Book Club, and the Strohschein Law Group.

“We couldn’t be more excited to have so many generous people in St. Charles and in the schools and our teachers to support a need that is more important now with the SNAP benefits,” Salomone said, referring to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. “And it opened up this awareness to people that there’s more food insecurities in St. Charles than people know.”