With no paid staff, 100% of donations and funding are used for the operation of the pantry and the purchase of groceries. Helping Hands Pantry partners with the Northern Illinois Food Bank, enabling us to purchase food staples from Northern Illinois Food Bank at a deeply discounted cost. Helping Hands Pantry also works with and receives referrals from local government agencies, not-for-profit agencies, and churches. In addition, donations are accepted from local food retailers, and Meijer has adopted the Helping Hands Pantry as a recipient of their Simply Give Program, providing gift cards to our agency for purchasing food.
We follow a “Client Choice” method for our patrons, which means they go through our pantry with a shopping cart choosing only items that can be used by their family.
On average families receive approximately 75 pounds of food (enough to feed a family of three for at least four days), with a retail value of up to $150
All of the food we are able to provide comes to us through funds that are donated. If you don’t have the time to be involved physically,consider getting involved financially!