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CROP funds purchase nutritious snacks for Austin students, grades K-12, who meet weekly during the school year with a trained volunteer tutor, at Pine Avenue United Church (Austin) or First United Church (Oak Park) on Thursday. Over 60 students are currently enrolled, with a waiting list of 10-20. Most students do not eat dinner before the early-evening session. Snacks help improve their concentration, and also help them learn about healthy food choices.
Contact: Kathryn McCabe, Program Director, 5460 West Augusta,
Chicago, IL 60651. Phone: 773-378-5530.
CROP funds help stock the pantry with food. Located in the Forest Park Community Center, this pantry is supported 100% by free-will donations and the CROP Walk. It supplies food monthly to low income Forest Park residents, as well as special holiday food baskets.
Contact: Beverly Thompson, Director, 7640 W. Jackson Boulevard,
Forest Park, IL 60130. Phone: 708-771-7737.
CROP funds help stock the pantry with food the year around. Opened in 1970 to supply emergency and temporary food for anyone in the community who needed food, this pantry is operated under the auspices of the Community of Congregations and housed in First United Church, 848 Lake Street. It is open every Saturday morning, and the second and fourth Wednesday afternoon of each month. In 2005 it served an average of 210 families (355 adults and 342 children) per month. This pantry also provides food coupons for those enrolled in the holiday gift program administered by the Community of Congregations for Oak Park and River Forest Townships.
Contact: Kathy Russell, OPRF Food Pantry Coordinator, P.O. Box 3365,
Oak Park, IL 60303. Phone: 708-386-1324.
CROP funds help buy food for the pantry. This pantry serves an area in Austin where no other food pantry is available. Working with an all-volunteer staff of 10, they are open on Tuesday mornings. They supply food for 25-35 households each week, including many senior citizens dependent on social security, for whom the rising costs of prescription drugs and utilities leave them short on food. Financial support comes from CROP and several suburban churches.
Contact: Mary Johnson, 1015 North Pine Avenue, Chicago, IL 60651.
Phone: 773-287-4779.
CROP funds support the food and nutrition program of their Oak Park service center. In 2002 Community Response (the agency organized as Oak Park's "community response to the AIDS crisis") merged with Open Hand Chicago and the HIV Coalition to form Vital Bridges. They offer comprehensive resources to help individuals manage their HIV condition and stabilize their health. Along with a small paid staff, over 100 local volunteers serve the Oak Park site at 350 Harrison Street. Each month the Oak Park site provides food and nutritional counseling to over 200 low-income individuals in the near-west suburbs and the Austin community, supplying needed fresh meat, dairy, and produce products as well as staple foods.
Contact: Todd Williams, Community Outreach Mgr, 348 N. Ashland,
Chicago, IL 60607. Phone: (312) 948-2780.
CROP funds purchase food vouchers for families and individuals in Transitional Housing. Since 1992, P.A.D.S. has provided homeless individuals and families with food, overnight shelter early fall through late spring, and year around transitional housing placement and supportive services.
Contact: Lynda Schueler, P. O. Box 797, Oak Park, IL 60303.
Phone: 708-338-1724.
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