More help needed for the hungry in Spring Valley

The good news is they salvaged most of the food – only an estimated $500 worth of meat had to be discarded – and donors responded generously. They always do.

The bad news is the Hall Township Food Pantry doesn’t have the final bill yet for the emergency freezer repairs. Donors are again being asked to help out.

Hungry families in and around Spring Valley depend on the food pantry to keep their tables filled, so organizers felt their pulses surging when, last week, the walk-in freezer quit freezing.

Board member Joe Nagle monitors the walk-in and was concerned when, on Tuesday, June 3, the temperature climbed to 41 degrees Fahrenheit. That temperature should be no further north of zero. Nagle sounded the alarm and sent for John’s Sales & Service in Oglesby for emergency repairs. Everyone thought it was fixed.

“On Wednesday morning, everything was still running,” Nagle said. “I checked it (the temperature) all night, on my phone, to make sure that we were still in the parameters and then it set off an alarm.”

John’s came back and the core problem proved more dogged than first thought. The compressor had failed and had to be replaced – that was diagnosed quickly – but then it was discovered two valves on the fan unit were not opening. Five days passed before pantry officials concluded it was safe to resume using the freezer.

The timing was bad all around. Wednesday is when the pantry distributes food to the needy – the last thing anybody needed was a same-day mechanical problem – and now volunteers were asked to whisk the frozen foods to St. Bede Academy, which offered the use of its walk-in freezer.

“When it went down, we had to clear out all of the meat we had in it,” said Kathy Martin, food pantry treasurer. “Probably $500 worth of meat went into our our dumpster because it had partially thawed and we can’t possibly give it out.”

The spoilage wasn’t too costly. The emergency repairs were another story.

Jan Martin, executive director, said she got a bid for $11,300. For a not-for-profit organization, that’s steep – and the bid arrived during high-demand summer when families with children don’t have subsidized school lunches.

“And I thought, ‘How are we going to do this?’” she said. “So I went to Facebook and I said, if I can get a thousand of you out there to send $11.30, I think we’re going to be good.”

The response was swift and gratifying. People donated from well beyond the pantry’s service area. Locally, Grow Spring Valley pledged to match the first $5,000 that came in and they hit their goal.

Their preliminary goal, that is.

The $11,300 was just for the compressor and the work. They food pantry still awaits the bill for the work on the fans, which was completed on a Sunday and therefore subject to an after-hours shop rate. Jan Martin said she isn’t sure what the grand total will be, but already she’s reaching out to donors to assist with the final tally.

“This is a generous community – it is,” she said. “So I want to make it clear that we’re very grateful for the swift response, but if anyone feels the urge there is an additional monetary need.

“We heard from people all over the Illinois Valley, not just our giving area – actually from many other states – who came to our aid. I can’t stress enough how thankful we are for the giving goodness expressed.”