Latest news with #MarieWilkinsonFoodPantry
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Factor donates five refrigerated vans to Aurora-area food pantries
Factor, a packaged meal delivery service, recently donated five refrigerated vans to food pantries operating in and around Aurora. The five vans, which were filled with Factor meals also donated by the company, were officially handed over at a ceremony held Wednesday at the company's facility at 2372 W. Indian Trail in Aurora. Late last year, company officials pledged during a press conference in Aurora to donate 10 refrigerated vans to food pantries over the course of 2025. 'This generous donation from Factor is a game-changer for our local food banks and for families in need,' Aurora Ald. Carl Franco, 5th Ward, said at Wednesday's ceremony. 'This isn't just about transportation, it's about ensuring no one in our community goes hungry.' The vans were given to the Northern Illinois Food Bank, Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry, Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry, Loaves & Fishes Community Services and Kendall County Food Pantry. Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry Executive Director Annette Johnson told The Beacon-News after the ceremony that Factor is a great community partner to the pantry — not only because of the donation of the refrigerated truck, which was set to go deliver food the same afternoon it was donated, but also because the company donates 3,000 meals each week to the organization. 'There has never been a better community partner than Factor,' she said. A vehicle is a huge donation, Mike Keane, director of programs at the Northern Illinois Food Bank, said after the ceremony. The new refrigerated van will allow the organization to be versatile in getting meals to those in need, he said, in the most timely and fresh way possible. It is a core belief of Factor that everyone deserves access to healthy and nutritious meals, according to Dan Seidel, chief operating officer of HelloFresh North America, which is Factor's parent company. He said during Wednesday's ceremony that this core belief is behind Factor's Fuel for Change initiative, through which the company has donated more than 2 million meals to food pantries like those represented at the ceremony. Late last year, Factor celebrated a milestone of one million meals donated to the Aurora community during a similar ceremony. Although meaningful progress has been made in fighting food insecurity, the challenge is 'only deepening,' Seidel said. In Illinois, one in eight people face food insecurity, meaning they do not have reliable access to nutritious food needed for healthy lifestyles, he said. Tackling the problem requires a commitment from 'every corner of society,' Seidel said, and 'only through collaboration can we build a future where everyone has access to healthy, nourishing food.' Aurora Deputy Mayor Casildo 'Casey' Cuevas, speaking during the ceremony, thanked Factor and all the food pantries for the work they do. He has a special place in his heart for this issue, he said, because he has personally worked to combat food insecurity in Aurora, which he called a growing problem. The donation of these vans 'really means a lot' because it means food will get to those who need it in the community, and he has personally seen the blessings that come from delivering food, he said. Aurora Deputy Chief of Staff Nicholas Richard-Thompson said during the ceremony that communities are seeing an increase in economic pressures like food insecurity because of what's happening at the federal level. So, he said collective action and cooperation are needed now more than ever, and he commended Factor for stepping up to partner with community organizations. During his own speech, Franco called Factor 'one of our most generous and benevolent local businesses' and said that, since locating here a few years back, have 'stepped up as a significant community partner contributing to many of our local not-for profits, helping them to provide for our residents.' rsmith@
Chicago Tribune
05-06-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Factor donates five refrigerated vans to Aurora-area food pantries
Factor, a packaged meal delivery service, recently donated five refrigerated vans to food pantries operating in and around Aurora. The five vans, which were filled with Factor meals also donated by the company, were officially handed over at a ceremony held Wednesday at the company's facility at 2372 W. Indian Trail in Aurora. Late last year, company officials pledged during a press conference in Aurora to donate 10 refrigerated vans to food pantries over the course of 2025. 'This generous donation from Factor is a game-changer for our local food banks and for families in need,' Aurora Ald. Carl Franco, 5th Ward, said at Wednesday's ceremony. 'This isn't just about transportation, it's about ensuring no one in our community goes hungry.' The vans were given to the Northern Illinois Food Bank, Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry, Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry, Loaves & Fishes Community Services and Kendall County Food Pantry. Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry Executive Director Annette Johnson told The Beacon-News after the ceremony that Factor is a great community partner to the pantry — not only because of the donation of the refrigerated truck, which was set to go deliver food the same afternoon it was donated, but also because the company donates 3,000 meals each week to the organization. 'There has never been a better community partner than Factor,' she said. A vehicle is a huge donation, Mike Keane, director of programs at the Northern Illinois Food Bank, said after the ceremony. The new refrigerated van will allow the organization to be versatile in getting meals to those in need, he said, in the most timely and fresh way possible. It is a core belief of Factor that everyone deserves access to healthy and nutritious meals, according to Dan Seidel, chief operating officer of HelloFresh North America, which is Factor's parent company. He said during Wednesday's ceremony that this core belief is behind Factor's Fuel for Change initiative, through which the company has donated more than 2 million meals to food pantries like those represented at the ceremony. Late last year, Factor celebrated a milestone of one million meals donated to the Aurora community during a similar ceremony. Although meaningful progress has been made in fighting food insecurity, the challenge is 'only deepening,' Seidel said. In Illinois, one in eight people face food insecurity, meaning they do not have reliable access to nutritious food needed for healthy lifestyles, he said. Tackling the problem requires a commitment from 'every corner of society,' Seidel said, and 'only through collaboration can we build a future where everyone has access to healthy, nourishing food.' Aurora Deputy Mayor Casildo 'Casey' Cuevas, speaking during the ceremony, thanked Factor and all the food pantries for the work they do. He has a special place in his heart for this issue, he said, because he has personally worked to combat food insecurity in Aurora, which he called a growing problem. The donation of these vans 'really means a lot' because it means food will get to those who need it in the community, and he has personally seen the blessings that come from delivering food, he said. Aurora Deputy Chief of Staff Nicholas Richard-Thompson said during the ceremony that communities are seeing an increase in economic pressures like food insecurity because of what's happening at the federal level. So, he said collective action and cooperation are needed now more than ever, and he commended Factor for stepping up to partner with community organizations. During his own speech, Franco called Factor 'one of our most generous and benevolent local businesses' and said that, since locating here a few years back, have 'stepped up as a significant community partner contributing to many of our local not-for profits, helping them to provide for our residents.'
Chicago Tribune
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Social workers in Aurora can feel the anxiety of the immigrant community: ‘The level of fear is heartbreaking'
It's hard for most of us to wrap our heads around the level of anxiety and fear that's hit so many immigrants in our communities. I've spoken to enough people who work with this population to know mistrust is running rampant since Donald Trump moved into the White House with a series of moves targeting this population One undocumented immigrant who has lived here decades and is fully integrated into the schools, churches and neighborhoods, says he now looks with suspicion on those once considered neighbors and even friends. Whether perceived or real, fear is a powerful emotion. And Aurora area social workers have also been feeling more stress as they try to keep up with headlines that change from day to day. 'It really hit me: I can't mess this up,' said Katie Arko, executive director of Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry. 'These people's lives depend on the pantry every week.' Since Trump's executive orders, she added, 'a tremendous amount of time' has been spent 'so we can be as prepared as possible,' which includes 'watching the numbers closely.' While visitors to the pantry have 'generally been holding steady,' Arko noted an uptick in Friday's newly-added curbside option, which allows clients to stay in their cars rather than go into the building. And there's been an even more significant rise in Interfaith's 'Pantry-to-go' program which provides home deliveries. At Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry in Aurora, Executive Director Annette Johnson points to a 13% increase in visitors, which she says is likely connected to the fact only a pick-up system is being used currently at the Highland Avenue headquarters. 'Our guests just feel safer in their cars,' she said. And in their homes. What has 'really caught us off guard,' Johnson said, are the swelled numbers at East Aurora High School's satellite pantry, particularly on Kids Day, when youngsters can pick up bags of groceries for their families every other Thursday. Two weeks ago, 'we had to turn kids away for the first time,' she said. But this week was even 'more remarkable,' she pointed out, with numbers jumping from 80 or so to more than 180. 'We tried to keep up but the kids kept coming,' Johnson said, which resulted in more staff coming to help students from the district's Transitions Program, who pack groceries in bags and unload and sort incoming donations. There's no question 'some are afraid to come out in public,' Arko agreed, noting that, after holding steady at 75 students served a week, Interfaith's satellite pantry at Jefferson Middle School took a sudden jump to about 100. 'The level of fear is heartbreaking. Their lives are difficult enough without making it more difficult,' she said. 'Imagine what this is doing to their mental health.' Eric Ward, executive director of Family Counseling Services, doesn't have to. 'Every Latino staff person for the last two weeks has been working with parents who are scared,' he told me. 'And that is taking away from our mission' of helping them 'navigate mental health challenges.' But Ward puts much of the blame on too many people 'listening to rumors from 10 different sources,' including social media and mainstream media that are agenda-driven. Ward says he's telling his staff to stay away from those rumors and innuendos, as well as the politics behind them. 'Clients are calling our staff asking if they should send their kids to school because ICE will take them out,' he said. 'I tell them that's not how it works. We are a nonprofit. Can you imagine the optics of breaking into a mental health agency and removing children? 'This is what rhetoric does to people who don't have the means to access truth. It stokes worry and fear.' Which is why, he added, 'the most important thing we can do is help them with a reality check.' That's what the office of state Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, has been working hard to do after a barrage of phone calls from terrified individuals. While things 'have calmed down' to a degree, anxiety and mistrust will continue to impact immigrant communities, she said. As well as those who help them. Arko says Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry is receiving weekly requests from churches and other nonprofits serving mostly Hispanic bases, seeking food for families afraid to go into public places, including pantries,. And so, 'we are working on formalizing a plan to do our best to help these families,' she said, while 'ensuring we are not taking away' from their regular visitors. 'We are just one tiny little corner of the world, and think about how much time we have spent making sure we can pivot if needed,' she said. 'Imagine all the other nonprofits and what they are doing.' Sometimes discouraged but always determined, Arko can't help but compare the current narrative shaping our country's storyline to a bad movie. 'Unfortunately, we can't walk out,' she said. 'Or ask for a refund.'
