Tiskilwa woman donates thousands of items of food to La Salle VA clinic

Tiskilwa resident Kathi Torri donates thousands of items to the La Salle Veterans Administration clinic food pantry every couple of weeks. She donates so much food it overflows the clinic’s storage room.

Torri became involved in the clinic because her husband and brother were both disabled veterans. Her husband died in February, and her brother still goes to the clinic. Torri said donating food for veterans is something her husband would still be doing if he was alive today.

“It makes me feel good knowing someone’s not going to go to bed hungry,” Torri said.

Britteny Moutray, clinical dietitian at the VA clinic, said she knew Torri’s husband from when he used to come in for care. She remembers him being kind, upbeat and funny.

“It’s really heartwarming and awesome his wife is continuing to donate food in his legacy and in his honor,” Moutray said.

The La Salle VA clinic provides a wide array of different health services for veterans in the area. The clinic does home visits, too, within a 70 mile radius of its location.

Moutray said a quarter of veterans have some degree of food insecurity, where they can’t get to a store or can’t afford to buy groceries. The clinic’s goal is to help with food insecurity by providing the food pantry for any veteran who comes in for care.

“The need is there and we’re really starting to see that,” Moutray said.

Moutray said sometimes they have enough supplies for a balanced meal, and with some veterans having children at home, the food pantry is vital in putting food on the table.

The food pantry started out small, with a few staff members bringing in enough food to fill two to three shelves of a book shelf. Those shelves turned into a table, then two, and now the clinic has a whole room filled with food.

Moutray said word got out to the community, too, and said they have donations coming in and veterans utilizing the pantry. But, Moutray said Torri stands out as the clinic’s most influential food donor.

“She loves doing it,” Moutray said. “You can tell the love and kindness she has through the boxes of food she donates.”

Torri said she didn’t start this to get recognition, she did it because people are hungry. “Anything helps and everything is needed,” Torri said.