Not too much of a good thing; 25,000 pounds of donated food arrives in Mt. Prospect

For a second, Mount Prospect officials wondered Thursday if they were being given too much of a good thing.

Feed the Children, a not-for-profit group based in Oklahoma City, was delivering 24 pallets of food, hygiene products and other items - an estimated 25,000 pounds worth - to be distributed to struggling families in Mount Prospect.

It was an incredible donation, but a sizable one, too. Some in the village wondered where they could store all that material.

"I told them we'd make sure to find a place here." Fire Chief John Malcolm said.

The truck, which traveled to Mount Prospect from Elkhart, Ind., was unloaded Thursday morning at Fire Station 14 on Kensington Road, by members of the Mount Prospect fire and public works departments.

The truck was sponsored by Sam's Place restaurant in Mount Prospect. Owner Al Marinakos said Sam's Place has worked with Feed the Children before.

"They're a good organization, and it's important to give back to the community," he said.

Julie Kane, director of the village's human services department, said the items will be distributed to families through the village's food pantry. Some of the boxes delivered on Thursday will be transported to village hall, while others will remain at the fire station until needed, she said.

"We're thrilled about this," she said.

The human services department provides food assistance during the year to residents who go through an assessment process. The department also runs food-basket programs during the holiday season - one around Thanksgiving and the other around Christmas.

For information on the program, go to the village's website, mountprospect.org.

"It's always a struggle to keep our supplies up," Kane said. "This will be a huge help."

Feed the Children delivered 98 million pounds of food and other items to children around the world in fiscal 2013, according to its website. For more information about the group, go to feedthechildren.org.