One thing all of us can agree upon is that NO ONE should go hungry. Let’s let everyone know this! We are participating in the 28th Annual Greater Chicago Food Depository Hunger Walk on Saturday, June 28th, stepping off at 8:30 a.m. from Soldier Field. This is a 3.1-mile walk and the weather is always beautiful and it’s always a lot of fun!

Please consider making a donation to Team Irving Park Community Food Pantry, or join our walking team, OR you and/or your company, organization or friends and family can form a team on our behalf (our pantry agency number is #A00113). Our food pantry will earn $12 for every walker who shows up! (You don’t even have to walk–As long as you show up). Click here to make a donation or form your team.

To join Team Irving Park or form a new team, click on “sign up.” Follow the instructions from there. Remember, if you want your proceeds to go to our food pantry, you need to type in our member agency number, which is #A00113. If you have any questions at all, please give us a call or email!

Job Opportunity
The Irving Park Community Food Pantry is often the first point of social service contact for people in need of financial, medical, housing, employment, or mental health assistance. We are seeking a Client Resources Coordinator, a part-time position at the Pantry, who will serve pantry clients by assessing their needs and linking them with resources in the community, including public benefits, healthcare resources, employment and job training services, mental health and substance abuse counseling, older adult services, family support, homeless shelters, literacy programs, and utility assistance. For more information, please click here. APPLY BY EMAIL ONLY. NO PHONE CALLS, PLEASE. 

Lots of Chances to Meet Us!
Representatives of Irving Park Community Food Pantry will be out and about this summer!  As always, you will find us at our booth at the GIPNA Farmers’ Markets at Independence Park. We will be there to accept non-perishable food donations, funds and answer any questions you may have. The dates for the markets are as follows: June 9 & 23
July 14 & 28, August 11 & 25, September 8 & 22 and October 13 & 27. The markets are always on Sundays, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Independence Park is located on Irving Park Road at Hamlin.

Did You Know?
This year, GIPNA Farmers Markets will accept the Illnois LINK Card (formerly the “food stamp” program) as a form of payment for purchases! Other credit cards (except American Express) and debit cards will also be accepted. The GIPNA Canopy will handle the purchases by plastic. So now everyone can access whole, locally grown, fresh food!

Also, we will be at the Six Corners BBQ Festival, sharing a space with the good people at Liberty Tax Agency. Again, we’ll be there to pass out brochures, answer questions and accept donations! Find us there on Saturday and Sunday, June 15th and June 16th, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Volunteers Rule!
Thank you to Eric L. who has volunteered to help us set up the pantry bright and early every Wednesday morning! New Opportunity: We are in need of an info-tech savvy volunteer who has experience working in Salesforce programming, so they can customize our database and reports, to make it as efficient for our intake volunteers as possible! If you know of someone who has Salesforce experience, contact Lee, the Volunteer Manager.

Easter Success
Special thanks to the Mom’s Group of Park Community Church’s Forest Glen Campus, as well as the Sunday School and of Irving Park Lutheran Church and Irving Park United Methodist Church for their support and help in filling baskets. Thanks also to Vicci Rodgers for coordinating the basket allocation. Thank you to the Sunday School of Irving Park Lutheran Church volunteers Joyce Benninghouse, Catherine Moyers, Ryan B. and Mary Arndt for helping to distribute baskets to our clients during the month of March. In total, 256 baskets (120 girls, 136 boys) were given out.

Way to Go WebSNAP!
Congratulations to the WebSNAP team at our food pantry! Because of their success in registering so many clients for the Link Card, we received a one-time allocation of food credits from the Greater Chicago Food Depository in the amount of $8,700! In addition to the $900 per month credit through a City of Chicago pilot program for 2013 we’re receiving from GCFD, this is going to be incredibly helpful, as subsidized foods decrease every month.

The Feinstein Challenge
Our Food Pantry is participating in the Alan Shawn Feinstein Challenge. Every year, the Feinstein organization divides $1 million each year to hunger-fighting agencies based on their contributions during March and April. If you donate to the Pantry before April 30th, those contributions will go toward our total to receive some of this money, which often consists of several hundred dollars. Visit the organization online to learn more about them at www.feinsteinfoundation.org

Thank you to the Old Irving Parking Association (OIPA) who donated funds to our pantry, which will help with our drive to raise our total for the Alan Shawn Feinstein Foundation Challenge. Thanks also to Curves Avondale (3701 W. Irving Park) and Liberty Tax Service (Six corners) for holding a March food drive for us!

Hunger Walk Date Confirmed
The 28th Annual Hunger Walk is scheduled for Saturday, June 29, at Soldier Field. Registration opens at 7 a.m. and step-off is at 8:30 a.m. Save the date to join thousands at our community’s largest annual event to end hunger! More information to come.

So Long, Farewell…
Goodbye to our longtime volunteer, Jay Skilton. Last year, Jay won the Volunteer of the Year Award. He has served at the pantry for six years, and in that time he’s been a board member, a representative/liason to the Three Brothers Garden, and has run the line. We will miss him very much!

Longtime volunteer, Robert Eisenhart, husband to Pat, passed away in March. A Celebration of Bob’s Life was held on March 23rd at Carter Westminster Church in Skokie. We are very grateful that Pat Eisenhart will continue to work as an integral volunteer and member of the operations team at Irving Park Food Pantry. Thank you to all of those friends and loved ones who made donations to the Food Pantry in Bob’s memory. With input from the Eisenharts, the funds will be designated by the board for a future special purpose.

Volunteer Opportunity:
The Irving Park Food Pantry is in great, and immediate need of an “early bird” volunteer. This job requires a fairly strong, reliable, dependable volunteer who can:

1) Be at the pantry at 6 a.m. every Wednesday*
2) Help set up the tables, food stations and folding chairs

Volunteer has the option of leaving at 8 a.m. when finished. *If possible, trade-off weeks with other volunteers can be arranged. If you are interested, please contact the volunteer manager via email or call 773-283-6296. Again, dependable and reliable volunteers are very much appreciated!

Be a Bunny for a Child at the Food Pantry!
The Irving Park Community Food Pantry again will be distributing Easter bags to its clients for their children on Wednesdays in March (Easter is March 31). We are collecting goodies (candy, snacks, small toys, etc.) for children in the age categories of under 2, 2 to 5, and 6 to 8 years old. For any questions, call the food pantry at 773-283-6296 and we will direct you to our Easter Distribution Coordinator, Vicci Rodgers.

Please take a look at what our little food pantry accomplished in 2012!
Read Irving Park Community Food Pantry Annual Report, 2012