The West Suburban Community Pantry serving DuPage County has announced the appointment of Laura Traut-Coyle of Westmont as their new Executive Director. She will assume responsibilities on June 1. The pantry has been in operation since the late 70’s and lost more than a leader when co-founder, Roger Schmith succumbed to cancer this past January. The pantry serves more than 4,700 people each month through their Woodridge facility.
Traut-Coyle brings a wealth of experience to the pantry and has been involved directly with hunger relief on a national level with Feeding America and local level with food banks like Northern Illinois Food Bank for more than 12 years. She brings over 20 years of combined food-related and nonprofit experience to the pantry. Most recently, Traut-Coyle was Chief Strategist for a Chicago based nonprofit consulting firm where she advised nonprofit organizations on philanthropic strategy.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the West Suburban Community Pantry at this critical time,” says Traut-Coyle. “Nearly 10% of DuPage County residents struggle with hunger. Most of them are working families, children and the elderly. As Executive Director, I plan to carry on Roger’s legacy by working with the communities in DuPage County to make sure food gets to those in need and our neighbors don’t have to choose between paying a bill and buying food for their family.”
Barbara Gulick, Willowbrook resident and pantry Board Chairman made this statement, “We are so happy to have Laura on our team. We look forward to her applying the knowledge she’s gained throughout her career to the needs of the pantry and for the benefit of the people of DuPage County.”
To learn more about West Suburban Community Pantry visit www.wcpinc.org.
West Suburban Community Pantry
The West Suburban Community Pantry is dedicated to providing food for the hungry, educating the donor community about existing needs, and supporting advocacy efforts for the hungry. We also work hard to encourage volunteerism and the sharing of resources. The Pantry operates year round serving the residents of DuPage County. The pantry goal is for clients to receive at least 136 pounds of nutritionally balanced food each month, including meat and dairy. Last year, we distributed 1.9 million pounds of food and served 45,122 persons, including 17,530 children and 5,592 seniors. This averages out to about 3,760 people per month. You can learn more about the pantry at www.wcpinc.org.
