Hall Township Food Pantry to host spaghetti dinner fundraiser for building expansion

Project Success of Eastern Bureau County is growing as work begins on a new addition north of the building.

Soon a 30-foot-by-40-foot structure will be constructed and connected to the former Hall Township building, home of Hall Township Food Pantry at 500 N. Terry St. in Spring Valley.

“We have outgrown our pantry as our current method of distribution requires more space,” Director Jan Martin said. “In order to keep up with the lines of cars, carts must be loaded ahead of time and ready for distribution.”

The design of the new facility is meant to purposely drive-thru, allowing vehicles to be filled indoors out of the weather. An entrance driveway will wrap around the west side of the building and cars will exit onto Terry Street.

With the expansion also comes room for necessary equipment, including a forklift, pallet jacks and carts, which currently reduces space available for food storage.

When not being used for distribution, the building will house the pantry vehicles. Project Success’s board of directors have been planning for the expansion.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pantry reverted from a client-choice distribution to a drive-thru opportunity for picking up pre-packed food. An informal survey revealed clients would rather continue the curbside method.

Staying in their car, with trunk cleaned and ready for food is much easier for many. Many families with children previously had to find sitters in order to shop the pantry, but curbside pickup allows the children to remain in the car with parents while groceries are placed in the trunk by pantry volunteers.

“I am a long-time proponent of client-choice distribution,” Martin said. “But I completely understand our client’s concerns. Fifty-four percent of our clientele are elderly, with varying degrees of mobility. Curbside is more convenient for them, but taxing for our volunteers. Illinois always offers weather-related challenges. We have suffered through distribution in freezing winters, summer heat, downpours of rain and a severe hailstorm.”

This distribution process begins with filling shelf-stable groceries inside the pantry before sending the cart into the warehouse to the meat and frozen station, then on to the dairy and produce stations, followed by the bread and bakery station and finally the chemical station, where bags with household and personal products are placed on the base of the overflowing cart.

The cart is then sent outdoors where even more is added. Volunteers load the contents of each cart into trunks.

The organization serves residents of Arlington, Bureau, Cherry, Dalzell, DePue, Hollowayville, Ladd, Seatonville and Spring Valley.

On Monday, Sept. 26, the board will sponsor a Make Room for More Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser and Raffle at Jack’s Tap, 129 E. Devlin St., Spring Valley. The drive-thru event will be from 4 to 8 p.m. A dine-in option also will be available for the event.

Tickets can be purchased for $10 at the pantry, by calling 815-663-2085 or from any board member. Additionally, $1,000 cash giveaway tickets are being sold for $10 each. The winner will be drawn at 8 p.m. that evening. All proceeds will be directed toward the building expansion.