Loaves & Fishes Community Pantry and the Naperville United Way: An Important Community Partnership

November 1, 2007

Joanne Mitrenga, Loaves & Fishes

Investing in United Way helps more than one person, one agency or one issue, because we support a broad range of programs that improve lives.

One such program is the Community Food and Nutrition Program at Loaves & Fishes Community Pantry, which helps people in crisis by ensuring no one goes hungry. Joanne Mitrenga is Executive Director of Loaves & Fishes.

How does the program work?

The program provides a dependable source of nutritious food for families who are struggling to make ends meet. It frees up scarce dollars, which can be used toward the high cost of rent, utilities, transportation and other critical family expenses. There are several specially designed parts of this program that are for the benefit of children including the Infant Care Program, the Breakfast Assistance Program and the Summer Lunch Program. Other children?s programs include school supplies needed to equip students to learn, birthday bags to make a child?s birthday special, and special foods and gifts to celebrate the holidays.

Who does the program help?

Loaves & Fishes assists 1,675 Naperville area families (5,765 individuals) including 2,080 children from infants through age 18 to find help and a betterment of their living situation. Most of our families are characterized as the ?working poor,? who struggle year round as they try to balance high rents and low wages. Many seek help at Loaves & Fishes because they are overwhelmed by an unexpected crisis, such as job loss, costly auto repairs, loss of a spouse through death or divorce, or extraordinary medical expenses. Still others are feeling the tight financial squeeze of dwindling pensions and rising medical costs. What the majority have in common is that they never thought they?d find themselves in the situation of turning to others for food.

How does Naperville United Way Help?

One way is through their financial investment in our mission. This is particularly important to sustaining our programs at a time when both the poverty rate and food prices are rising, and government support in the form of commodities, which are tied to farm subsidies, is dropping. Naperville United Way also helps us further our mission by increasing our organizational effectiveness. Their application and reporting processes are rigorous with a strong emphasis on evaluation and measuring outcomes. We have gained so much from the partnership that has served to strengthen our operation.

Naperville United Way researches the issues facing people here in our community, researches the programs that best address those issues, and invests resources where they are needed most.

 | Posted by KWalerow | Filed Under Partner Agencies 

Comments

One Response to “Loaves & Fishes Community Pantry and the Naperville United Way: An Important Community Partnership”

  1. Tiffany Adams on January 16th, 2008 1:22 pm

    First, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK GOD FOR HAVING PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF TO HELP OUT PEOPLE WHO IS REALLY IN NEED.
    THANK GOD FOR YOU!

    I TRY SEVERAL TIME TO MEET THE NEED OF SHELLS GAS STATION GIFT CARD,AND MY ADRESS ON MY DRIVERS LICENSE WERE FROM THE CITY I REALLY CAN NOT AFFORD TO GET IT SWITCH OVER NOW AND I LOST OUT BUT THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN ALWAYS FOR YOUR TIME AND THOUGHT.
    THE POOR MAN CRIED AND GOD HEARD HIS PRAYER. LOVE

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