Help Dixon Community Food Pantry at Stuff the Squad event

DIXON – The Lee County Sheriff’s Office’s second annual Stuff the Squad is set for Saturday.

The event, which will benefit the Dixon Community Food Pantry, will run from 9 a.m. to noon. Donations can be dropped off with the sheriff’s office in the RiverWorks Coworking parking lot, 224 N. Galena Ave., Dixon.

“We started it last year to give back to the community and make sure people are taken care of, especially with the holiday season,” Chief Deputy Derek Ranken said.

Accepted donations include canned and boxed goods, condiments and monetary contributions, he said. Last year, the sheriff’s office collected a couple thousand pounds of food, Ranken said.

“I’d say to support your community,” he said when asked why people should donate. “You want to support the people who might be out of work or don’t have funds to support their families through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.”

For every three canned goods donated, people will receive $5 off any in-stock Lee County Sheriff’s Office K-9 T-shirt, which will be for sale along with hoodies, Ranken said. Those sales, for which only cash will be accepted, will support the K-9 program.

The $5 off does not apply to hoodies.

T-shirts normally are $25, and hoodies are $45, according to a Lee County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post.

Food insecurity a year-round problem, not just during holidays

In October, 334 families including a total of 1,097 individuals visited the Dixon Community Food Pantry and were provided with seven to 10 days worth of food.

The pantry is struggling to remain stocked, however, in terms of both food and volunteers, said Josie Whaley, acting president of the board of directors.

“We need volunteers, donations and food,” she said. “We just appreciate anything.”

Ideal donations include most nonperishable food items, but they also accept fresh food, Whaley said. Even homegrown vegetables can be donated, she said.

Monetary donations also are good because the Dixon Community Food Pantry can buy supplies from food banks, the cost of which sometimes is cheaper than regular grocery stores, Whaley said.

Usually enough funds come in around the holiday season to carry the pantry through the following year, Whaley said, but that didn’t happen in 2022, and now they’re “in a hole.”

She said she suspects it has something to do with the stock market and retirement plans tanking because most of their donors get distributions from those sources.

It doesn’t help that the price of food has almost doubled, Whaley said.

“Say we buy food at Aldi. We used to pay $300 to $400, but now we’re paying $600, $700, $800 – and that’s weekly,” she said. “The costs for us have risen, and the donations have gone down.”

The stores in Dixon are a great help, Whaley said, pointing to Oliver’s Corner Market’s 24 Days of Giving during the Christmas season and Country Market’s $6 bags of food as examples.

Then there’s food they get from Aldi and Walmart through the stores’ participation in the nonprofit Feeding America.

Volunteers are needed to help pick up that food, as well as to get it on the food pantry’s shelves and then into people’s cars, Whaley said.

The truth is, Whaley said, although the donations they get around the holidays are “fantastic,” food insecurity isn’t just a holidays problem.

“Everybody remembers us during the holidays, but then comes summer and we have more kids at home because school is out,” she said. “United Way did their free meals this year, but we still have insecurity because kids aren’t getting the breakfast and lunch at school.

“We need to be remembered year-round and not just during the holiday season.”

The Dixon Community Food Pantry is located at 2001 W. Fourth St. Individuals and families in need can pick up food from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Guests must show an ID or bill in their name proving they currently reside within Lee County.

Donations are accepted from 8 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. To schedule an alternative donation drop-off time, call Whaley at 815-440-5374.

To volunteer at the food pantry, call volunteer coordinator Betty Kanzler at 815-677-4863.