Before the ribbon was cut, the pantry was already feeding people.

Community leaders gathered outside the Kankakee Area YMCA Child Care Center on Saturday, May 9, to officially mark the opening of a new food pantry — one that had quietly launched in late March and already served 241 people across roughly 80 households, distributing 876 pounds of food in its first two months.

“One of the first families to use our new pantry told me that without it, her family would not have been able to eat for three days,” said Kristi Schu, the center’s director. “This pantry represents a promise to families across the community: you do not have to face hardship alone.”

Built on a partnership

The pantry grew out of a conversation. When Kankakee Area YMCA CEO David Parker met with Morgan Roberts, a food and health systems educator with University of Illinois Extension, to discuss a childcare assessment, he mentioned the idea to Schu.

She didn’t hesitate.

“I immediately said, ‘Well, I have an idea,’” Schu said. “Morgan and I connected, I told her my idea about the food pantry, and she helped us do a needs assessment survey. That really became the foundation of our partnership.”

Roberts, who serves Grundy, Kankakee, and Will counties, helped the team navigate the logistics of launching a sustainable operation.

“There are a lot of things that go into running a pantry: what kind of donations will you accept, who will you serve, what grants will you apply for,” Roberts said. “My job is to help our partners navigate the systems around this work.”

Grant funding from YMCA of the USA covered startup costs, including refrigerators and shelving.

“The refrigerators, the shelving — all of those things are expensive,” Schu said. “That grant really made it possible.”

A need hiding in plain sight

Nearly 1 in 7 people in Kankakee County are food insecure, according to Feeding America — meaning they lack consistent access to nutritious food or may not know where their next meal is coming from.

Roberts said the problem runs deeper than most people realize.

“Food insecurity impacts more families than people realize,” she said. “Many families are only one unexpected crisis away from needing support.”

Schu designed the pantry with working families in mind, scheduling hours outside the traditional workday so people with jobs can still get help.

“People think if you use a food pantry, it’s because you don’t have a job or something,” she said. “But that is not the case at all.”

What comes next

Saturday’s ribbon-cutting was a milestone, not a finish line.

Schu hopes to add cooking classes that teach families how to prepare meals using pantry staples. The pantry also plans to eventually partner with Northern Illinois Food Bank to expand its food supply.

For now, it runs on donations from area grocers and individuals. Community members can contribute food, money, or volunteer time.

A list of needed donation items can be downloaded online, and drop-offs are accepted at the YMCA Child Care Center Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Kankakee Area YMCA Child Care Food Pantry is at 1025 N. Washington Ave. in Kankakee. It is open to YMCA members on Wednesdays and to the public on Saturdays from 9 to 11 a.m., excluding YMCA holidays.