From truck to trunk: Aurora food pantry sets women-only distribution March 17
Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry will hold a pop-up mobile distribution for women only Thursday, March 17, from 2 to 3 p.m. indoors at Restoration Church, 1460 W. Indian Trail Road in Aurora.
Women are invited. Admission and parking are free. Identification and registration is not required.
Food items, diapers, formula, baby food and feminine hygiene products are among items to be distributed.
Rebecca Dunnigan, pantry outreach and program manager, said Women's Empowerment Mobile Pantries are planned for the third Thursday of months this year.
Additional women-only pantries are set for Thursday, April 14, from 2 to 3 p.m. at Aurora Public Library Eola branch; and Thursday, May 19, from 2 to 3 p.m. at Vineyard Aurora Church, 505 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora.
Drive-thru pop-up pantries are scheduled for Friday, April 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Calvary Church, off Route 59, Naperville; and Saturday, May 7, from 10 a.m. to noon at Restoration Church, 1460 W. Indian Trail Road in Aurora.
Some 130 families, including 231 children, were served at the March 5 distribution March in the Crest Hill library parking lot.
Among 25 volunteers were Crest Hill Mayor Ray Soliman and Crest Hill Ward 2 Alderwoman Claudia Gazal. They joined 25 volunteers from Calvary Church in Naperville and the Aurora-based pantry.
Also in April, some distributions may be held in conjunction with Aurora Public Library bookmobile visits to neighborhoods. Details will be announced.
Interfaith added the women's-only pantry to its popular mobile pantries, launched in January 2021, with a grant from Aurora Women's Empowerment Foundation. AWE, an Aurora -based nonprofit, was formed in 2018 after the Aurora YWCA closed after nearly 125 years.
AWE chair Amy Bauduin said, "Our mission is to elevate and empower Aurora-area women and future women by making grants to tax-exempt nonprofits engaged in meaningful, measurable work that helps women over the hurdles of inequity and exclusion, propelling them forward with life-changing programs and services."
With pantry staffers and volunteers, a truck and driver loaned by Calvary Church of Naperville visits area locations to distribute Interfaith food, household items and women's hygiene products.
Interfaith mobile pantries visit parking lots at churches, schools, libraries and senior and low-income residences. Mobile pantry partners with Interfaith are Fox Valley Park District, Calvary Church of Naperville and Blessings in a Backpack of Chicago.
Interfaith mobile pantries deliver food for 200 families on a first-come basis. Items distributed include granola bars, fruits and vegetables, peanut butter, pasta, pasta sauce, eggs, ground beef, cereal, applesauce, apple juice and box dinners. Additionally, when available, laundry detergent, toilet paper, hand soap, kids' band aids, hand sanitizer and school supplies are distributed.
Patrons do not need to leave their vehicles to claim food. Pantry volunteers observe pandemic safety procedures when loading bags of groceries and household items valued at $100 into patrons' vehicles.
For more information, call (630) 692-3061, e-mail rdunnigan@aurorafoodpantry.org or visit aurorafoodpantry.org.