Community leaders step up to support food pantries in Machesney Park and Freeport

MACHESNEY PARK, Ill. (WTVO) — As SNAP benefits face partial withholding, local community leaders are stepping up to support food pantries in Machesney Park and Freeport with significant donations.

The Village of Machesney Park has contributed $7,000 to the Helping Hands Pantry, while Freeport Township has donated $18,000 to the Northern Illinois Food Bank. These donations come amidst a rise in demand for food assistance, as the Helping Hands Pantry has seen its clientele increase from 250 to over 300 families per month.

“With the uncertainty that’s surrounding SNAP, and people are very concerned and nervous….if they were just barely getting by previously, it’s still going to put them into a difficult position,” said Jerry Gibbons, who has worked at Helping Hands Pantry for 22 years.

“They’re very uncertain how many more people they’ll be coming to the doors for, needing assistance in, this will help them,” said Mayor Steve Johnson.

“Well, I donate to the Illinois Food Bank, because they will allocate the funds to each individual pantry that’s part of the food bank’s network and that’s located in Freeport,” said Patrick Sellers, Supervisor of Freeport Township.

Gibbons noted that the increase in clientele at Helping Hands Pantry has been noticeable amidst the government shutdown.

Gibbons expressed gratitude for the community support, stating, “It’s a blessing to have others shouldering some of that load and taking that load off of pantries and, like I say, in particular those that, maybe don’t have the resources that we do.”

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WTVO. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WTVO staff before being published.