Following severe storms and tornadoes in mid-July that left thousands without power across the south suburbs, the Transformation Community United Methodist Church in Harvey kept its food pantry open to assist those in need.
Donna Owens, the food pantry’s coordinator, said many in the community rely on the pantry each week and would likely go without food if it did not operate.
“Harvey is one of the poorest cities in the state of Illinois, we have one corner store, we have no supermarkets within walking distance around here,” Owens said.
The pantry is open from 10 a.m. to noon each Thursday. Owens is a constant presence during these hours, actively managing the bustling space. She coordinates among volunteers and assists eager visitors as they wait for their turn to shop.
In the two hours the pantry distributes food, volunteers work tirelessly to assist a steady line of people, ensuring everyone gets the food they need with care and efficiency, Owens said.
By 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Owens said the church already provided food to more than 120 people.
In Harvey, where the city’s lower income population faces significant challenges in accessing affordable food, the pantry plays a crucial role, she said. The city lies in a food desert without a reliable public transit system, making the pantry an essential resource for many residents who are unable to afford a car.
This week, one of the air conditioning units broke, but despite the uncomfortable conditions, Owens and other volunteers continued working to distribute the pantry’s food to a mix of migrants and residents, all carrying reusable bags or pushing shopping carts as they gathered what they need.
Each week, the church receives more than 6,000 pounds of perishable and nonperishable food from the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
However, after severe storms July 15 brought down a power line in the church’s parking lot, leaving it without electricity just days before the pantry opened, they had to find an alternative solution.
The church, part of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church, was able to secure a grant from the United Methodist Committee on Relief, a humanitarian relief and development arm of the denomination.
The grant was used to purchase and install generators allowing the church to preserve its perishable items and still operate the pantry open while most of Harvey was without power.
The Rev. Fabiola Grandon-Mayer, director of connectional ministries for the conference, was influential in securing the grant, which she said was part of a collaborative effort with the disaster relief team to restore the facility’s power.
“The food couldn’t wait. I mean, any longer with the freezer and refrigerators with no power. And they had 6,000 pounds of food,” Grandon-Mayer said. “If they didn’t have power, the food would be going to the trash.”
The pantry is organized like a grocery store, with shelves stocked full of nonperishable items and refrigerators along the walls holding milk, eggs and other dairy products. There are also coolers for frozen meat that Owens said is meant to last longer so shoppers without cars can safely get the produce home.
“We try to provide one of everything,” she said.
The first time a visitor comes to the pantry, Owens said they receive a card from the food depository that allows them to shop at any pantry in Illinois.
State Rep. for Will Davis came to the pantry Thursday to see how he could help the church in its efforts. Now, he plans to gather funds to replace both air conditioning units in the building.
“I’m not saying it’s the only need they have, but it’s what I’ve identified that I know can do,” Davis said.
Many of food pantry visitors can’t afford the increasingly high costs of groceries or other households goods, said Davis, who plans to visit multiple food pantries in his 30th District over the next few weeks.
“For some folks, even if they’re working, they still have needs,” he said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture found food prices have risen by 25% since the pandemic.
In Harvey, the nearest food market is Walmart, which without a car many residents cannot easily access, Owens said. After the area was hit hard by July’s storms, the city distributed warm meals to residents at the Public Works building.
Regardless of income, Owens said any person that comes to the pantry for food will get a chance to shop.
“If a person stands in line, they must be in need of food,” she said.
