Oswego SD308 to continue partnership with Kendall County Community Food Pantry

Oswego SD308 looks to continue its relationship with the Kendall County Community Food Pantry.

The school district and food pantry have had a partnership over the past several school years. In October 2020, that partnership expanded, and the Oswego satellite location of the food pantry opened in the former Traughber Junior High School at 61 Franklin St. The food pantry, which operates once a month, has provided canned/non-perishable food items, as well as produce and bread, to families living within the SD308 attendance area.

Attendance has averaged about 120 families per month, according to district officials. The district will continue to provide a location for the food pantry, house shelving, freezers and refrigerators for food storage and provide volunteers for the food pantry.

The food pantry will provide perishable and nonperishable food, food storage equipment, signage and a client registration system for the satellite location. The agreement between the school district and the food pantry, which the school board is set to approve at its Sept. 25 meeting, will be in effect for three years.

Earlier this year, Oswego SD308 formalized an agreement that will let the Oswego-based nonprofit group Community Cares use space in the same building to continue its mission of making sure families have the school supplies they need before students return to the classroom.

At their July 31 meeting, school board members unanimously approved a one-year lease with Community Cares. As stipulated in the agreement, the lease can be further extended in one-year increments upon written agreement between both the school district and Community Cares.

Community Cares has collaborated with the district since 2019. The agreement will allow the group to use space at the building to operate/coordinate personal care items on a monthly basis, while the food pantry is in operation from September to June. In addition to operating while the pantry is running, Community Cares will use the building in July and August to organize and facilitate its back-to-school backpack program.

“This agreement really is just intended to formalize that space and that partnership as we look to work side by side in meeting those needs for our families moving forward,” Theresa Komitas, the district’s director of communications and public relations, told school board members during their July 10 meeting.