EDGEWATER — A Far North Side food pantry is looking for more volunteers, financial support and a new retail partner after the sudden closure of Dom's Kitchen & Market left food offerings in a “huge deficit.” In need of.
Care for Real, a food pantry with locations in Edgewater and Rogers Park, received thousands of pounds of food from Dom's before the upscale grocer abruptly closed late last month. Jen Kouba, Care For Real's director of development and communications, said the food pantry provided customers with pre-packaged meals, such as sandwiches and salads, donated by Dom's.
But when the volunteers showed up at the Dom's store for their scheduled pick-up on April 23, they were turned away, with employees telling them they were closing and the store would close immediately.
Some Care for Real customers are feeling the loss as the pantry “scurries” to find new retail partners and increase volunteer capacity to go grocery shopping out of town. Some people feel that way, Kouba said.
“Demand is very high,” she said. “This is a huge loss for our customers.”
Last year, Care for Real took over 52,000 pounds of food from Dom's. Mr Kouba said so far this year the food pantry had received about £3,000 a month in income from the store.
Half of the food Care for Real serves, about 1 million pounds, comes from grocery chains such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Jewel-Osco and Mariano's, as well as Dom's, Kouba said.
Without food from Dom's, Care for Real is working with the Great Chicago Food Depository to find new food distribution partners, but those partners may not be within city limits. This means volunteers will have to drive further to make the pick-up.
Care for Real officials say there was no advance notice of Dom's closure, so the food pantry didn't have time to foster new relationships with other grocery stores.
The prepackaged meals that Care for Real previously obtained from Dom's were essential because the food pantry serves individuals and families who don't have access to a kitchen or the ability to cook, Kouba said. said.
Kate Gignac, Care for Real's program director, said customers quickly realized Dom's was running out of groceries.
The shortage of prepackaged, ready-to-eat food will also impact people who show up at Care for Real in urgent need of a meal, Gignac said.
“Throughout the week, we meet people who are hungry in this moment, so we really benefited from meals like this,” she said. “It’s hard when someone starts becoming dependent on something we can’t control.”
The end of Care for Real's partnership with Dom's comes as the food pantry is experiencing “record demand” for meals from neighborhood residents.
Last fiscal year, Care for Real served nearly 13,000 individuals, an increase of about 26% from the previous year, Kouba said. Additionally, the number of new household visits to the food pantry last year increased by 12% compared to the previous year.
Care for Real serves individuals and families within zip codes 60626, 60640, 60645, 60659, and 60660. People can visit either the Edgewater Pantry at 5339 N. Sheridan Road or Rogers Park at 1545 W. Morse Ave. once a week.
The Edgewater store will be open for food distribution Mondays from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to noon, and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The Rogers Park store is open Tuesdays from noon to 2 p.m. and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Local grocers and food retailers interested in participating in Care for Real's food rescue program should email info@careforreal.org. Information about volunteering with Care for Real can be found on his food pantry's website.
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