Grundy County residents experiencing greater food insecurity

Food insecurity is growing in Grundy County, so programs are changing to meet the need.

Eric Fisher executive director of We Care of Grundy County in Morris, which operates an on-site food pantry, said he used to see peaks and valleys of need. But now the need is steady, he said.

“New families are coming in all the time,” Fisher said. “Our micropantry empties pretty fast. Our food pantry inside – we’re busy all the time.”

Fisher said families made 4,158 trips through the food pantry in 2023 through Thanksgiving.

“Last year it was 3,833,” Fisher said, “and we felt really busy last year, too.”

Fisher said the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits that increased during the pandemic for some people now are reduced. And people are struggling with inflation, especially rent, he said.

According to the latest ALICE report, 34% of Grundy County residents are below the ALICE threshold. These are residents who are working but still unable to afford their basic living expenses. ALICE is the acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.

Currently, We Care serves between 60 and 80 families per week, compared with 150 to 240 a month in 2018, Fisher said. Families may use the food pantry twice a month.

The pantry is set up like a grocery store, so families can select the items they need, including milk, meat and sometimes eggs. he said.

“We try to give them every item possible, just like a grocery store, so they can leave with a heaping cart of groceries.”

So far, We Care is keeping up with the need, between “great support” from the community and “a couple of Amazon facilities that donates food to us on a weekly basis,” Fisher said.

Fisher said We Care also with The Forgotten Garden food pantry in Braceville at the beginning of the school year to distribute 75 backpacks of food to kids in need at Braceville Elementary School. Rotary Club of Morris is also a big supporter of We Care, he said.

We Care has just three staff members and “close to” 30 volunteers, Fisher said.

“We can always use more volunteers,” he said.

Maeven Sipes, chief philanthropy officer at Northern Illinois Food Bank, said the food bank is serving almost 2,000 residents a month. Sipes said that’s quite a bit for a rural area with lower population.

“Our micro pantry empties pretty fast. Our food pantry inside – we’re busy all the time.”

—  Eric Fisher, executive director of We Care of Grundy County

So the Northern Illinois Food Bank recently opened a distribution center at R.P. Home & Harvest in Morris for My Pantry Express, the food bank’s new online food pantry. With My Pantry Express, people place an order and then pick it up, Sipes said.

People don’t need referrals or qualifications to use the online food pantry, according to the My Pantry Express website. They only need to attest to being in need of food.

Sipes also said inflation and the end of pandemic-related benefits is contributing to food insecurity in the 13 counties the food bank services, including Grundy.

“People’s wages are not covering the increases,” Sipes said. “And food is so expensive now.”