Irving Park Community Food Pantry

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Irving Park Community Food Pantry

The Irving Park Community Food Pantry provides food to those in need who reside in the 60641 or 6061

To qualify for food, visitors must present a photo ID or a piece of mail or other ID showing an address in 60641 or 60618 ZIP codes Those outside of this service area may come in once for a small, emergency amount of food until a Pantry in their area can be located. In addition to a 3-5 day supply of food, clients can receive pet food through our onsite Pet Food Corner, a partnership with the Com

munity Animal Rescue Effort (CARE). Onsite assistance in applying for SNAP benefits is available as are other client resources and referrals once COVID protocols are eased. Special distributions include: Easter baskets, school supplies, winter coats & accessories and Holiday food and toy distributions.

Operating as usual

03/28/2023

Tracie Ostrowski dropped off a nice donation of toiletries yesterday, thanks to her daughter! For her 10th birthday party, she asked guests to bring toiletries for the Pantry rather than presents, resulting in a bounty of shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste, razors and other items.
We so appreciate her thinking to do this and donating the results to the Pantry!
We are always looking for donations of toiletries, as they are hard to purchase at discounts from any of our suppliers and they’re very popular with clients, so we often run out.
If you would like to donate some, please use the registry list at https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/genericItemsPage/3M879CFPE4IGF or drop off donations at the Big Helpers store at 4184 N. Elston Ave. from 10 a.m.to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or the porch at 3912 N. Kenneth any time.
Thank you to Tracie and her daughter for helping in this way!

03/27/2023

Our delivery of nearly 8,000 pounds of food from the Greater Chicago Food Depository arrived earlier than expected but volunteers were quickly on-hand to bring it in and distribute it to the appropriate locations.
It’s a high total for the final week of the month, when most of our regular clients have already received their monthly food, but our totals have been in recent weeks, with many new clients in our service area needed our services.
We’ll receive additional deliveries of produce, bread and other staples from suppliers we buy from as well as donations from several stores. Our goal is to have more than enough food to provide each of our clients in the 60618 and 60641 ZIP codes, however many that turns out to be, with five days’ worth of food to help them offer nutritious, well-balanced meals to their families throughout the month.
If you would like to help us purchase all of the food needed to make this happen, please make a PayPal donation at www.irvingparkfoodpantry.org or mail a check to Irving Park Food Pantry, 4256 N. Ridgeway Ave., Chicago IL 60618.
We appreciate your continued support!

03/26/2023

The Pantry continues to offer personal-care items to its clients from its new permanent Toiletries station. Many of these items are not available through our discount sources and must be purchased with donations.
To alleviate these shortages, we are asking for donations (or drives) of basic toiletry items, including in-demand items comprising
^ toothpaste, ^ deodorant, ^shampoo, ^ body wash, ^ razors and ^ shaving cream.
Other key needs are #4 and #6 diapers, baby wipes, baby formula and toothbrushes.
Donations can be dropped off at the Big Helpers store at 4184 N. Elston Ave. from 10 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or the front porch at 3912 N. Kenneth Ave. any time.
We also offer an online registry at Amazon with which supporters can make a contact-free donation: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/genericItemsPage/3M879CFPE4IGF
You can make your choices and have them shipped to the Pantry address indicated. Please do not ship packages directly to the Pantry, as we are not always there to receive them
Monetary donations to the program can be made via PayPal at www.irvingparkfoodpantry.org or by check to Irving Park Food Pantry, 4256 N. Ridgeway Ave., Chicago IL 60618. You can mark on your donation to use the money for "Toiletries" and it will go into our budget for those items.
We appreciate your help to fill this ongoing need!

03/25/2023

Thank you to Barb Gresey and 33 Realty for donating to our spring program to provide baskets to all our clients' children 12 and younger!
The program runs for one more week. You can still donate with a monetary contribution at www.irvingparkfoodpantry.org or sending a check to Irving Park Food Pantry, 4256 N. Ridgeway Ave, Chicago IL 60641. Please mark your donation for "baskets." Thank you!

03/24/2023

Intake Coordinator Lynne Anderson was surprised at her post on Wednesday by some thank-you gifts she received from Brownie Troop 26273 at Bateman Elementary School after her talk earlier to the group about the Pantry and how it serves the community https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=574543324700944&set=pcb.574544504700826).
She received a hand-made thank-you card signed by all the girls and several boxes of Girl Scout cookies, a nice reward for something she enjoyed doing!

03/23/2023

Pantry volunteers provided food to 275 people in 97 households on a gray Wednesday morning yesterday, a busy day for the fourth week in the month, by which time most clients have received their monthly allotment of food.
We also provided food to 13 homebound clients, bringing our total people served to 288.
That total was aided by 20% of our visitors being first-time clients living in our service area, a percentage that has continued for many weeks. We also welcomed a significant number of familiar faces we hadn’t seen for many months, indicating the current economy has impacted their recover from the economic conditions brought on by the pandemic and the ending of some of the aid programs created to get us through.
We also gave out 40 baskets in our spring program, which ends next week. We appreciate everyone who contributed to the program and helped brighten the early spring for so many children in our neighborhoods.
We appreciate all of our volunteers working so hard to get everyone food and still being able to close up at noon with all of our clients having their food!

03/21/2023

Thank you to Deljo Heating & Cooling for delivering the results of their February food drive yesterday! We appreciate their efforts and will begin giving out the food they collected when we open tomorrow morning.

03/21/2023

Kerry Brown Hasbrook of Radical Generosity Chicago () delivered 50 nicely filled baskets and plenty of fixings for dozens more to the Pantry yesterday for our ongoing program!
For the second year in a row, Kerry and her crew worked with 78 members of the Youth Faith Formation (YFF) program (), who donated and assembled all the materials. The families all enjoyed participating and are happy to know their efforts will be well appreciated by so many children in our neighborhoods!
Our basket program continues through the end of the month, prior to Easter on April 9th. If you would like to contribute, please make a PayPal donation at www.irvingparkfoodpantry.org or mail a check to Irving Park Food Pantry, 4256 N. Ridgeway Ave., Chicago IL 60618 and mark it for “baskets.” Thank you!

03/20/2023

Our delivery of more than 9,000 pounds of food from the Greater Chicago Food Depository arrived right on time this morning, and volunteers used our new backdoor system to bring it in and distribute it to the appropriate stations, refrigerators and freezers.
Our order totals are rising in recent weeks, both because GCFD has had more options for us to choose from and because are total clients is increasing. We are especially seeing a rise in new clients from South America and Ukraine who are settling in our service area and need help getting back on their feet.
We’ll receive more deliveries in the next two days from a variety of suppliers of produce, dairy products and other necessities. That will ensure we have enough on hand to provide everyone in the 60618 and 60641 ZIP codes in need of food with supplies for five days’ worth of well-balanced meals during our distribution this week on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon.
If you would like to help us purchase the variety of items needed each week from our various distributors, please make an online PayPal donation at www.irvingparkfoodpantry.org or mail a check to Irving Park Food Pantry, 4256 N. Ridgeway Ave., Chicago IL 60618.
Thank you for your continued support!

03/18/2023

Thank you to the Pastor Erin Bouman and the entire congregation at Irving Park Lutheran Church for their donation of 100 filled baskets for our ongoing program this month prior to Easter! Special thanks to Larry and Holly Lundquist, who collected the donations, shopped for treats, arranged for the Sunday school classes to assemble the baskets and delivered them this week! Pastor Bouman gave the baskets a blessing during the Sunday service prior to their delivery. Thanks also to Cheri Bryant, who made an Oreo sucker to put into each basket!
We appreciate the church’s continued support of this program and so many others throughout the year. They show we are truly “Neighbors Helping Neighbors!”

03/17/2023

Client Services Coordinator Elvia Esparza picks out toiletry items to provide to one of her homebound clients. Elvia sends each of the 40 clients a “menu” of items that are available the week they receive their groceries, and they select what they’d want, just as those who visit the Pantry can do in person.
Unfortunately, there seldom are many toiletries to provide, as they are hard for us to source with our limited budget and they’re popular with clients to receive. Each client is limited to a few items.
We appreciate any donations or drives that can help us supply these items. Toothpaste, body wash, shampoo and dishwashing liquid are especially popular, followed by deodorant, razors and shaving cream.
Donations can be taken to the Big Helpers store at 4184 N. Elston Ave. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday through Friday or dropped on the front porch at 3912 N. Kenneth Ave.
You also can make a contact-free donation via our Amazon wish list, which can be shipped to an address where it will get to the Pantry (please do not send items to the Pantry's address, as we're often not there to accept them).
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/genericItemsPage/3M879CFPE4IGF
You also can make a monetary donation via PayPal at www.irvingparkfoodpantry.org or via check to Irving Park Food Pantry, 4256 N. Ridgeway Ave. Chicago IL 60618 and mark it for "toiletries."
Thank you for your help in continuing this program!

03/16/2023

The mild weather brought out 79 clients with 243 family members yesterday morning, which kept the line moving smoothly and ensuring everyone got a full supply of choices.
Adding to those clients were those served on Tuesday evening, which totaled 186 family members in 65 families.
We also provided food to 10 homebound clients on Tuesday night and 16 on Wednesday morning. In all 455 people in 170 families received food from the Pantry’s volunteers this week.
Our basket program for clients’ children 12 years old and younger also continued, and we provided clients with 51 baskets for their kids. The program continues for the rest of the month, and we expect the totals to continue to rise as we reach the end.
Thank you to all our volunteers who kept things moving smoothly both Tuesday and Wednesday and helped so many of our neighbors receive food this week!

03/15/2023

Thank you to the Park Ridge Wilderness Princesses for buying items, assembling and donating 25 baskets for our program this month! They filled them with all kinds of great treats. Andy Schmidt, whose daughter is part of the group, delivered them to us earlier this week and we began giving them out to clients this week.
For more about the group's activities, visit https://prwilderness.org/
Our program to give a basket of small toys and treats to clients’ children 12 years old and younger continues for the rest of the month, prior to Easter on April 9th. If you would like to contribute, please make a monetary donation at the PayPal link at www.irvingparkfoodpantry.org or mail a check to Irving Park Food Pantry, 4256 N. Ridgeway Ave., Chicago IL 60618. Please mark your donation for “baskets.”
Thank you for your support!

03/14/2023

PANTRY NEEDS REUSABLE BAGS!
The Greater Chicago Food Depository, which supplies us with most of the recyclable plastic bags that we use to give out food, has run out of bags and doesn’t know when they will have them back in stock. We have some supply available, but that will dwindle if GCFD can’t restock soon.
They go quickly, as we usually double-bag groceries to ensure they don’t break (as shown by Kathy Cudnowski and Lynne Huston).
We are asking all clients to bring as many reusable bags with them to the Pantry as possible to help us stretch our plastic-bag supply. We also would like any donations of reusable bags that are in good condition so we can help our clients get enough to bring with them in the future. We also can accept recyclable plastic grocery and retail bags if they are clean and dry.
Donations can be taken to the Big Helpers store at 4184 Elston Ave. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or dropped off any time on the front porch at 3912 N. Kenneth Ave.
Thank you for your support!

03/14/2023

As the weather warms up, the Pantry has more organizations setting up outside our doors to provide clients with information about programs available to them for free or low cost if they qualify.
This past week, Psalms Pabico and Miguel Narez from Verizon Cellular Sales returned to sign up more clients for the company’s free 5G Internet service, based on eligibility. The program is part of the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides discounted service. For more about the program, visit https://www.fcc.gov/affordable-connectivity-program.
We also had a visit from Rajah Welch from our long-time supporter Oak Street Health, who set up her table and talked with clients about the services Oak Street provides to people using Medicare health-care programs. (She's shown talking with our entry doorkeeper Lourdes Ryczak). For more about Oak Street’s services, visit www.oakstreethealth.com
This week, Melody Kim from the HANA Center (4300 N. California St.) will be in to talk with clients about the center's programs to aid immigrants through social services and education programs. To learn more about the group, visit https://hanacenter.org.

03/13/2023

The Pantry has been visited by several journalists recently who are reporting on the end to the COVID-era emergency SNAP benefits, which is adding to food insecurity for our neighbors, especially with high inflation right now.
Ramin Mazaheri, a former volunteer who now reports for an international news service, talked with Executive Director John Psiharis, Client Services Coordinator Elvia Esparza and Volunteer Manager Betsy Minor (pictured) and produced a video report that ran in many overseas markets.
Last week, Elvia Malagon, whose reports for the Chicago Sun-Times are made possible through a grant from the Chicago Community Trust, talked with John and volunteer Ana Al Saad about the impacts and how our extra stations for toiletries and pet food help clients stretch their food dollars even further. You can read her report at https://chicago.suntimes.com/coronavirus/2023/3/13/23630991/chicago-illinois-snap-food-insecurity-benefits-changes-covid-19-pandemic-relief-funds-pantry
We appreciate the opportunity to provide information to news services and hope the economic conditions causing so much concern to our neighbors will soon abate.

03/13/2023

Our order of nearly 11,100 pounds of food arrived from the Greater Chicago Food Depository right on time, and volunteers quickly set up to bring it all in and distribute it to the various stations, refrigerators and freezers.
The total is quite high this week, both because GCFD offered us a lot of options that we could use and because we have three distributions: our monthly Tuesday night (6 to 7 p.m.), Wednesday morning (9 a.m. to noon) and our major homebound program to long-time clients who no longer can make it to the Pantry.
Volunteers used a new delivery system today to avoid setting the heavy pallets on the grass by the front entry and to keep the weight off the entry hall’s tile and flooring. It involves unloading the pallets in our parking lot off the alley and using a roller board (which we used at our previous location) to slide boxes directly to the kitchen, where they are distributed to their final places. It worked very well and resolved several challenges.
If you would like to help us purchase the growing amount of food needed to meet the need in the 60641 and 60618 ZIP codes, please make a PayPal donation at www.irvingparkfoodpantry.org or mail a check to Irving Park Food Pantry, 4256 N. Ridgeway Ave., Chicago IL 60618. Thank you for your continued support!

03/13/2023

Thank you to the Nimble Thimbles group that meets at the Irish American Heritage Center for their recent donation. The group meets regularly to sew quilts and took on the assignment of making and gathering items to donate to the Pantry.
Their donation comprised hats, gloves, coloring books and crayons, which were picked up by Pantry volunteers Lynne Anderson and Kathy O’Neill. They put them out on our outdoor Choice table, where they were quickly selected by clients.
We appreciate them thinking of us and putting so much effort into helping our clients!

03/12/2023

Meredith O’Sullivan shows off some of the baskets we provided to clients for their children 12 years old and younger last week, as part of our on-going program that continues all month, prior to Easter on April 9th.
This week, we gave out close to 40 more baskets, more than we gave out last year during our second week, continuing the trend from last week. That was expected, and we had more than enough to go around. We expect to still be in good shape this coming week despite our two distributions (6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday). We have several big donations coming in from local groups to ensure we have plenty available.
If you would like to donate to help us purchase the items we need to complete baskets we’ve begun assembling, please use the PayPal link at www.irvingparkfoodpantry.org or mail a check to Irving Park Food Pantry, 4256 N. Ridgeway Ave., Chicago IL 60618. Mark your donation for “baskets” and we will use it to help buy items still needed.
Thank you to everyone for your continued support of this long-time annual tradition!

03/11/2023

Thank you to Molly Bunder, artistic director of Creative Partnerships at Filament Theatre and Pantry volunteer Kathy O’Neill, who are working together on a toiletry drive for the Pantry at the theater (4041 N Milwaukee Ave.).
They have established a dropbox in the lobby into which any of our key toiletries—toothpaste & toothbrushes, shampoo, body wash, deodorant, razors and shaving cream—can be placed at any time. Other items in demand include conditioner, body lotion, floss, lip balm, sunscreen and baby wipes.
The theater aims “to create a more equitable society by celebrating and amplifying the perspectives and experiences of young people through the performing arts.” To learn more about their programs, visit https://filamenttheatre.org/
Pantry volunteers will be stopping to pick up donations regularly, so if you’re in the neighborhood or going to a play, bring along a donation!

03/10/2023

Lynn Anderson, the Pantry’s intake coordinator, visited Brownie Troop 26273 at Bateman Elementary School earlier this week to talk with their leader, Stacie, and the girls about how families come to have food insecurity.
They used the book “Saturday at the Food Pantry” by Diane O’Neill (which includes an epilogue about the need for food pantries written by the Greater Chicago Food Depository).
Lynne talked with them about how many children receive food from the Pantry and they took turns reading from the book. They also discussed why someone might feel embarrassed about going to the Pantry even though we all need some help sometimes, and many situations can arise with families that leave them without enough money to buy food some months.
The girls also donated child-specific toiletries, including toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, floss and lip balm, among others. They decorated bags and put upbeat sayings on them and put their donations in them. We’re now giving those out from our Toiletries station.
We appreciate the Brownies being so interested in what we do and why we do it and for donating toiletries, which are very much in demand by all of our clients!

03/09/2023

The seasonable March weather on Wednesday brought out 95 clients to receive food for the 327 members of their families, another high total that we anticipate continuing. We also provided food to two homebound clients with four family members, bringing our totals this week to 97 clients and 331 family members.
The impact of inflation and loss of some governmental programs are showing up at our front door: at least one-third of our clients had not been in for about six months, indicating they’d been getting along without us until recently. We can only hope those factors abate but we continue to plan for more visitors than we had last year at this time and buy accordingly.
It was a busy day, as we had two sets of visitors, from Verizon and Oak Street Health, who set up outside the Pantry to provide information to clients. We also continued giving out baskets to clients for their children 12 years old and younger.
Thank you to all our volunteers, inside, outside and upstairs (in our office). They kept things moving smoothly, smiled (we think) when their picture was taken and helped so many clients remember our system and get them the food they wanted and needed!

Address

4256 N. Ridgeway Avenue
Chicago, IL
60618

Opening Hours

9am - 12pm

Telephone

(773) 283-6296

Website

http://www.irvingparkfoodpantry.org/

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Our Story

The Irving Park Community Food Pantry provides food and other assistance to those who live in the 60641 or 60618 (west of Kedzie) ZIP codes. We are open every Wednesday morning from 9 am until noon and on the second Tuesday evening of every month from 6:00 pm to 7:30. In addition to a 3-5 day supply of food our visitors can also receive pet food through our onsite Pet Food Corner, a partnership with the Community Animal Rescue Effort (CARE). Onsite assistance in applying for SNAP benefits is available as are other client resources and referrals. Special distributions include: Easter baskets, school supplies, winter coats and accessories and Holiday food and toy distributions.

Nearby government services

Safe Families for Children National USA
W Irving Park Road National Headquarters
McAlpine Consulting for Growth
N Francisco Avenue
Mary and Tom Leo Associates, Inc.
W Montrose Avenue
Quiet Spaces
W Hutchinson Street
Austin Special Chicago
N Elston Avenue
Open Arms Ministry
N Francisco Avenue
Common Pantry
N Damen Avenue
Call To Action (CTA) 20/30
W Roscoe Street
Belmont-Central Chamber
W. Belmont Avenue
Northwest Center
W Diversey Avenue
Austin Special Art
W Diversey Avenue
Alderman Debra Silverstein, 50th Ward
W Devon Avenue
ZAMS HOPE - HELPING HUMANITY
N. Artesian Avenue
Calor
5038 W Armitage Ave
LUCHA
W North Avenue

Other Public Services in Chicago

Alexi Giannoulias
West Washington Street
Prevent Child Abuse America
S Wabash Avenue
Family Empowerment Centers
W Devon Avenue
RPCC
W Morse Avenue
100 Black Men of Chicago
S Drive Martin Luther King Jr Drive
ZAMS HOPE - HELPING HUMANITY
N. Artesian Avenue
McAlpine Consulting for Growth
N Francisco Avenue
Blind Service Association
N State Street
Ravenswood Disposal Service, Inc
S Nashville Avenue
Alternatives
N Sheridan Road
LUCHA
W North Avenue
Healthy Schools Campaign
S Lasalle

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Romana Puente, member experience supervisor at the Irving Park YMCA, shows off three more bags of coats that were donated to the Pantry's coat drive in the past week. The Y has a decorated dropoff area in its lobby where anyone, member or not, can quickly deliver any new or gently used winter coats for the drive.
The Pantry's program, to provide winter coats to its clients' families in the 60641 and 60618 ZIP codes, begins NEXT WEEK on October 19th. Please make any donations you can as soon as possible. The drive runs through November 16th, with the final dropoff deadline of November 14th.
We also are asking for hats, scarves, mittens and other cold-weather gear. Please do not donate sweaters, sweatshirts, boots or other clothing.
We are happy to provide receipts for all new coats donated for tax deductions and encourage everyone to keep an eye out for good sales on men's, women's and children's coats.
Donations can be dropped off at any of the below participating locations:
# 16th District—Jefferson Park Police Station, 5151 N Milwaukee Ave.
# 17th District—Albany Park Police Station, 4650 N. Pulaski Rd.
# Big Helpers store, 4184 N. Elston Ave. (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday)
# Disney II Magnet School, 3815 N. Kedvale Ave. (Inside Main Entrance, 8:30am-3:30pm)
# Disney II Magnet High School, 3900 Lawndale Ave. (Inside Main Entrance, 8:45am-3:45pm)
# Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N Knox Ave.
# Irving Park YMCA, 4251 W Irving Park Rd. (dropbox in lobby)
# Jet’s Pizza, 3951 N. Kimball Ave., (dropbox in waiting area)
# J.T.’s Genuine Sandwich Shop, 3970 N. Elston Ave. (closed Mondays)
# Old Irving Brewing Company, 4419 W Montrose Ave. (noon to 10 p.m.)
# Perkolator Coffee, 6032 W Irving Park Rd. (during operating hours)
# Front Porch at 3822 N Tripp Ave. (anytime)
If you have a large donation or want to run a drive to gather coats, please email [email protected] with questions or to arrange delivery.
Thank you for your support of this annual program to help our neighbors this winter!

More than 7,300 pounds of food were included in our order from the Greater Chicago Food Depository today. Volunteers brought it all into the Pantry and parceled it out to the proper stations to begin preparations for our distribution Tuesday night from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon for everyone in the 60641 and 60618 ZIP codes who needs help.
We also received a delivery of 100 loaves of bread from Smoque's supplier, to help with our two distributions this week. We often run low on bread on Wednesday due to the larger numbers of clients now coming during our Tuesday night distribution, and this donation is a big help in meeting those needs. Our Tuesday numbers have more than doubled in recent months, requiring us to buy more food for our busiest week of the month.
We'll continue to receive more deliveries of foods we can't order through GCFD, including more produce, bread and a variety of nonperishables, right up until we open tomorrow night and into Wednesday morning.
If you would like to help us purchase all of the food needed to provide all of our clients with five days' worth of emergency food to make nutritious, well-balanced meals, please make a PayPal donation at www.irvingparkfoodpantry.org or mail a check to Irving Park Food Pantry, 4256 N. Ridgeway Ave., Chicago IL 60618.
Thank you for your continued support of our efforts!

Lisa Hendricks, (our 2022 Volunteer of the Year) shows off some of the prodigious donations of veggies she picked up from participants in the Lincoln Square Farmers Market this week. That group comprised Compean and Sons, Los Rodriguez Farm and Lafevor Farm and Greenhouses.
Additional farms have promised to participate this coming week, as the harvest season winds down. We appreciate all the donations, which help us provide our clients with a wider range of options, especially for bigger families.

Iris Ramos and Eric Garcia from long-time Pantry supporter Oak Street Health set up a booth outside of the Pantry this week. They handed out pamphlets and explained the group’s services for adults on Medicare to Pantry clients and anyone else in the neighborhood who stopped by. They'll be returning on a regular basis.
For more about Oak Street and their Portage Park location, visit https://www.oakstreethealth.com/locations/chicago-il/portage-park-doctors-office

Iris Ramirez, member engagement supervisor at the Irving Park YMCA, shows off one of several bags of coats already donated by members for the Pantry. She’s with the Y’s Fred Monster, who “eats” Halloween candy it receives for programs.
The donations will be used in our program to provide clients and their families in the 60641 and 60618 ZIP codes with new or gently used winter coats starting in mid-October and continuing until November 16th, our last distribution before Thanksgiving.
In addition to winter coats, we are collecting hats, scarves, mittens and other cold-weather gear. Please do not donate sweaters, sweatshirts, boots or other clothing.
We are happy to provide receipts for all new coats donated for tax deductions and encourage everyone to keep an eye out for good sales on men's, women's and children's coats.
Donations can be taken to any of these participating locations:
# 16th District—Jefferson Park Police Station, 5151 N Milwaukee Ave.
# 17th District—Albany Park Police Station, 4650 N. Pulaski Rd.
# Big Helpers store, 4184 N. Elston Ave. (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday).
# Disney II Magnet School, 3815 N. Kedvale Ave. (Inside Main Entrance, 8:30am-3:30pm)
# Disney II Magnet High School, 3900 Lawndale Ave. (Inside Main Entrance, 8:45am-3:45pm)
# Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N Knox Ave.
# Irving Park YMCA, 4251 W Irving Park Rd. (dropbox in lobby)
# Jet’s Pizza, 3951 N. Kimball Ave., (dropbox in waiting area)
# J.T.’s Genuine Sandwich Shop, 3970 N. Elston Ave. (closed Mondays)
# Old Irving Brewing Company, 4419 W Montrose Ave. (noon to 10 p.m.)
# Perkolator Coffee, 6032 W Irving Park Rd. (during operating hours)
# Front Porch at 3822 N Tripp Ave. (anytime)
If you have a large donation or want to run a drive to gather coats, please email inf[email protected] with questions or to arrange delivery.
Thank you for your support of this annual program to help our neighbors this winter!

Pantry volunteers kept busy on Wednesday morning, providing groceries to 333 people in 105 families, one of our busiest days in some time. It was the first week of a new calendar month, which often is the busiest week, but this marked a big jump for any week in many months.
A few people were still in line when we closed at noon, but we stayed open to ensure they all received food. Supplies held out, as we had expected to have a large number coming in. The count included 16 new families, and we were happy to explain how we work and provide them with food.
Thank you to all our volunteers who worked so hard to keep everything moving smoothly and stayed late to ensure everyone received food to keep their families fed this month. We expect our total to continue to grow as the weather turns cold and more income must go to heating and other needs.

Congratulations to Lisa Hendricks, who was named the Pantry's 2022 Volunteer of the Year! Lisa not only volunteers at the Pantry every week but coordinates harvesting our herb garden and makes regular pickups at pet stores for our Pet Food Corner and at the Lincoln Square Farmers Market to pick up produce from a number of vendors who donate to us.
We appreciate all her hard work and ready smiles each week and the effort she puts in all week long!
Certificates of Appreciation also went to Lynne Anderson, who coordinates our registration and runs demographic information each week to help us understand our clients' needs better; Laura Barnes, who works tirelessly to load clients' groceries each week and pitches in on many activities around the Pantry; and Kathy O'Neill, who works with outside organizations, including aldermen's offices and community groups on our behalf. We thank them for their dedication to our clients!
The awards were announced at the Pantry's Volunteer Lunch, which was held in the Pantry's delivery area this past Saturday. It was catered by Coco's Tacos truck from Aurora, with beautiful weather to allow volunteers to mingle and enjoy the day.
We appreciate all of our volunteers' hard work throughout the week to keep us moving forward and handling the challenges thrown at us through the year. They are the key to our ability to being "Neighbors Helping Neighbors!"

Tracy Fletcher, who is coordinating the coat drive for the Pantry at the Disney II schools, dropped off the first batch of donated coats this weekend. That gets us off to a good start! We've also heard from some of our other partners that they're getting in enough coats to make a run to bring them in.
We appreciate every donation to our annual coat drive, which aims to provide clients and their families in the 60641 and 60618 ZIP codes with new or gently used winter coats.
We are collecting coats now and will begin giving them out on October 19th and continue until November 16th, our last distribution before Thanksgiving.
We are asking for winter coats, along with hats, scarves, mittens and other cold-weather gear. Please do not donate sweaters, sweatshirts, boots or other clothing.
We are happy to provide receipts for all new coats donated for tax deductions and encourage everyone to keep an eye out for good sales on men's, women's and children's coats.
Donations can be taken to any of these participating groups:
# 16th District—Jefferson Park Police Station, 5151 N Milwaukee Ave.
# 17th District—Albany Park Police Station, 4650 N. Pulaski Rd.
# Big Helpers store, 4184 N. Elston Ave. (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday).
# Disney II Magnet School, 3815 N. Kedvale Ave. (Inside Main Entrance, 8:30am-3:30pm)
# Disney II Magnet High School, 3900 Lawndale Ave. (Inside Main Entrance, 8:45am-3:45pm)
# Irving Park YMCA, 4251 W Irving Park Rd. (dropbox in lobby)
# Jet’s Pizza, 3951 N. Kimball Ave., (dropbox in waiting area)
# J.T.’s Genuine Sandwich Shop, 3970 N. Elston Ave. (closed Mondays)
# Old Irving Brewing Company, 4419 W Montrose Ave. (noon to 10 p.m.)
# Perkolator Coffee, 6032 W Irving Park Rd. (during operating hours)
# Front Porch at 3822 N Tripp Ave. (anytime)
If you have a large donation or want to run a drive to gather coats, please email [email protected] with questions or to arrange delivery.
Thank you for your support of this annual program to help our neighbors this winter!