Woodridge, IL– Despite the daunting challenges of serving families in need during the COVID-19 Pandemic, West Suburban Community Pantry has successfully completed its Access 2020 Campaign to increase capacity to double the number of individuals served in the coming years. The Pantry has also announced a partnership with the Amazon Fresh Store in Naperville, which is providing much needed food and supplies to help feed the more than 5,600 neighbors in and around Naperville, Woodridge, Lisle, Westmont, Willowbrook, Bolingbrook, and Romeoville who rely on the Pantry for support. The two organizations will host a Reopening Ribbon Cutting for the Pantry Store on Wednesday, June 9 at 10 am in cooperation with Chamber 630. Amazon officials and a number of local Community Leaders will join the Pantry Board of Directors, donors and volunteers at the event.
“This event celebrates our increased capacity to serve and kicks off a valued partnership between The Pantry and Amazon Fresh with a shared commitment to provide fresh, wholesome foods to the community and accessible and dignified solutions for their household need,” says Laura Coyle, Executive Director of West Suburban Community Pantry. “If the pandemic has showed us anything, it’s that so many of our neighbors live with food insecurity every day, and an incident like COVID-19 can set them back months if not years. We need to support them with healthy nutrition, life skills support and the dignity they need to get back on their feet. We are so grateful that Amazon Fresh shares our vision of a community without hunger.”
The Access 2020 Campaign raised $600,000 dollars to introduce the Virtual Pantry online ordering system and drive-up order pick up at the Woodridge facility and remote sites throughout DuPage and portions of Will County, as well as renovating the existing Pantry facility to better accommodate the needs of clients and volunteers as well as social service support and education.
Reconfiguring the existing facility greatly increased warehouse space, while redesign of the reception space and Pantry Store allows for a bright welcoming lobby and private intake offices as well as additional shelf space for an expanded selection of pantry items. Strict health guidelines will be observed for in-store ‘shopping’, including masks and social distancing for the foreseeable future. Drive-up boxed food pick up that was instituted for safety at the start of the pandemic will continue and online ordering of clients’ choice of items is encouraged, for pick-up at the Pantry or remote locations. For more information visit www.wscpantry.org.
