Libertyville food pantry gets helping hand

LIBERTYVILLE -- Once a month the members of First Presbyterian Church get together to help feed the area's needy. Their job just got a little easier.

The Libertyville church which collects more than 5,000 pounds of food a month for its Mobile Food Pantry, recently received corporate funding to expand its outreach.

A $5,000 donation from the Motorola Foundation will go toward new equipment and more food, said church deacon and food pantry coordinator Jim King.

The already-successful pantry typically feeds between 110 and 125 families a month in the church's parking lot on Maple Avenue, near downtown Libertyville. This past week there were even more. Despite frigid temperatures and a slight sprinkling of snow, more than 130 families were on hand to take home everything from juice and bread to frozen meat, and every canned food in between.

"They give you just about everything you can use," said Butch Carter, of Round Lake Park. The 61-year-old grandfather was at the pantry taking home food and chatting with church members.

Saturday's event marked the 47th month the pantry has been open and next month will mark its fourth anniversary.

"No one thought when we started this there would be so many families to need it," King said.

King helped start the pantry in 2003 as a way to help give back to the community. The non-advertised event happens the third Saturday of each month.

The church spends about $1,000 a month to collect food from the Northern Illinois Food Bank. The amount of food varies, from 5,000 pounds to the 7,700 pounds they distributed on Saturday.

Unlike other pantries, the food distribution at First Presbyterian happens in a matter of hours. The Food Bank truck pulls up around 9 a.m. Thirty to forty church members help unload it, and they separate and arrange food on 17 large tables. By 10 a.m. it's ready to be distributed. Families normally take home as much food as they can fit in a 30 inch-square box.

The donation from Motorola will go toward buying new tables, said Rev. JD Millar. The 17 tables the church uses for the food were considered old in 2003, now after months of wear and tear the tables are inching toward ancient.

Funds will also go toward new carts -- used to wheel boxes to people's cars -- and an air compressor to keep the carts' tires inflated. Extra money will go toward more food, Millar said.

Most of the "guests" who come for food, are from outside of Libertyville, King said. They come from Mundelein, the Round Lake area and some from Waukegan.

Many of the volunteers live in the village. "They know that there is poverty and hunger out there." King said. "This is an opportunity to not only give money, but to give time too."

The time they give is unique to each member. For 82-year-old Green Oaks resident Royal Tischendorf, time is spent making the guests laugh. Tischendorf uses his collection of animal-shaped hats to entertain children while their parents pick up food.

"I love being here. I love making people smile," Tischendorf said.

It's that type of attitude that King thinks separates the First Presbyterian pantry from others.

"We actually talk to people. We have face time and we make them feel comfortable here," King said.