Hundreds of families will see a brighter Christmas this year thanks to the efforts of the Kendall County Community Food Pantry in Yorkville.

On Dec. 18, the pantry served 622 families as part of its Christmas distribution. That number was down from last year, when the pantry served about 750 families.

At the same time, the pantry has seen its weekly distribution numbers increase.

“On average, we’re feeding about 500 families a week for our standard Thursday distribution,” Kendall County Community Food Pantry Executive Director Alex Hurd said.

In addition, the Yorkville Junior Women’s Club on Dec. 20 organized Operation Santa at the pantry.

“We were able to provide toys to over 1,000 children in partnership with the Yorkville Junior Women’s Club,” Hurd said.

When Hurd started working at the center in December 2023, the pantry was serving about 450 families a week.

“And then last year, we leveled out to about 400 families a week,” he said. “For the past 10 weeks, I’d say since mid-October, we have hit 500 families a week, each week.”

The Kendall County Community Food Pantry serves not only Kendall County, but also DeKalb and La Salle counties. The pantry’s main facility is located at 208 Beaver St. in Yorkville.

The pantry also operates two satellite facilities, one at the former Traughber Junior High School building at 61 Franklin St. in Oswego and another one at First Lutheran Church of Plano, 200 N. Center St., Plano.

Hurd said the increase in the number of families the pantry has been serving may be a result of almost $200 billion in cuts in the next 10 years to the SNAP program.

“There’s still the unknown side of things,” he said. “People I figure are just wanting to be prepared.”

The cuts are part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed into law July 4. The bill changes eligibility requirements, putting an estimated 360,000 Illinoisans at risk of losing SNAP benefits.

Along with the change in eligibility requirements, Illinois and other states will have to cover a greater portion of costs for the SNAP program.

Starting Feb. 1, everyone ages 18 to 64 must work or volunteer a minimum of 80 hours per month to qualify for SNAP benefits.

The pantry wants to make sure that it has enough inventory to deal with the increase in participants. In addition, Hurd knows the impact such an increase can have on the pantry’s volunteers.

“They’re amazing, but it takes a toll when the numbers increase,” he said. “Five-hundred families a week is still completely manageable. It just gets a little more challenging when those numbers go over 500.”

In the face of increased demand, there fortunately has been an increase in donations to the Kendall County Community Food Pantry.

“We’ve seen an increase in not only financial donations, but also food and clothing donations across the board,” Hurd said.

The food pantry not only offers food assistance, it also offers pet food and supplies along with clothing and small household items.

More information about the Kendall County Community Food Pantry is available on its website, kccfoodpantry.org.