President Leveda Ashlin of Morrison Charitable Food Pantry NFP wrote “with a plea for cash donations for the Food Pantry, to help us serve our usual clients, and to handle the surge we had [in October. We had] 19 new clients register and reached an all-time-high number of families served in one month.”
Morrison Food Pantry and our community need your help. As the Government shut down continues with no end in sight, many of our families, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances are being impacted greatly. All pantries are seeing a big up-tick in new clients registering for assistance.
Our pantry had 19 new client registrations this October, seven of which occurred on the 30th. For the month, we served 91 households with a total of 269 people in them. There were 101 children between the ages of newborn and 18 were 101. Our average distributions for 2025 year to date were 64 families per month, an increase of 30% over the previous month.
According to a SNAP update I received on October 30, from IDHS (Illinois Dept of Human Services) via River Bend Food Bank. SNAP recipients should visit snapfederalimpact.illinois.gov for the most up-to-date information and to find food locally.
Facts about SNAP as provided by IDHS:
→ 1.9 million Illinoisans will go without SNAP benefits starting November 1.
→ 45% of those SNAP households have children
→ 44% include a person with a disability
→ 37% include older adults living at home.
→ The SNAP program supports close to 20,000 jobs in local grocery stores, farming, manufacturing, and transportation in Illinois.
→ Every $1 invested in SNAP benefits yields an economic impact of $1.50 to our local communities, resulting in a $7.2 billion economic impact annually to the Illinois economy.
The above facts do not have a name or face associated with them–unless you are working at a food pantry. Our pantry volunteers see fellow Morrison residents in need of a helping hand. Many may be embarrassed by having to ask for help or are seeking assistance for the first time. Many are having to ask for help after achieving a level of financial security, then having their SNAP assistance suddenly cancelled. Some are being furloughed by their employers at no fault of their own.
Please help us help our neighbors! We need cash donations to help us purchase the food items we need, to meet both current demands and this new surge. The food banks do not have the variety of food they had a year ago, and prices have gone up. That forces us to look at alternative sources to help provide food security. All monies donated stay here in Morrison to purchase needed supplies to distribute to our clients. Rest assured that we use our funds wisely to get the most out of each dollar we receive to serve our community.
Checks can be mailed to Morrison Charitable Food Pantry NFP, P. O. Box 324, Morrison, IL. 61270. Cash and checks can be dropped off at our Food Pantry location at 629 E. Lincolnway, on Wednesday from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., or Thursday from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. Or give the donation to one of our Board members (listed below.)
If you wish to help but have limited monetary resources, please consider donations of soap, shampoo, laundry and dish detergents, deodorants, Kleenex, etc., which are always needed. We do not purchase these items, but rely on donations to provide them. We prefer smaller sizes of detergents, as you can purchase more items, allowing your donation dollars to go further. Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Wal-Mart have the small size Dawn and Gain dish detergents.
No matter what the donation or size, rest assured that all donations are appreciated and needed. Thank you, Morrison, for your continued support!
The Board Officers:
President Leveda Ashlin
Vice-President Kathie Vandervinne
Treasurer Cal Vandermyde
Secretary Carole Patton.
Directors:
Randy Kuehl
Peyton Emerson
Rick Smith
Paul Vandervinne
Sheila Sonberg.