The Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry is hoping to provide additional resources to those in need of more than food by offering its first resource fair, which will feature more than two dozen service providers who have been specially recruited for the event.
Officials from the pantry said the three-hour fair, which will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 18, at the pantry at 1110 Jericho Road in Aurora, “is about providing people with information they may not have” and will include resources such as information on child care programs and health care, career services, nutrition and more.
Becky Dunnigan-Meyer, community impact manager for the pantry, said she had been thinking about the idea of holding a resource fair for over a year and got the go-ahead in January to start lining things up.
“I was pleasantly surprised about our turnout that is coming,” she said about groups that will take part in the event. “I was a bit nervous about how many organizations we’d have at the resource fair and was surprised I had to close off things as there was no more room to put up any more tables.”
Dunnigan-Meyer highlighted a few of those scheduled to appear.
“We’ll have the new bookmobile here, Maddie’s Mitten March, the VNA, Family Focus Aurora – a lot of different resources throughout the community will be there,” she said. “It’s like a job fair but a resource fair instead with tables and information for everyone. If one of these resource organizations has a job opening there will be information about that but most of it is people connecting with resources. People connecting with Rush Copley can find out about vaccinations, and testing, or getting insurance. Whatever it is, we have an entire slew of resources.”
Dunnigan-Meyer said there is already a sort of built-in audience for the event due to the people who use the food pantry.
“There are an awful lot of people coming into the pantry that are comfortable because they already visit it. We serve over 1,000 families a week, but a lot of these families need other resources that they may not know how to connect with,” she said. “We’ve brought in the different resources and set things up for families, and it will be easy to connect with them in a place that’s familiar.”
Throughout the morning, mini-tours will also be conducted of the food pantry market for those who have never visited the site.
Officials said the clothing closet on the premises will also be open “so people can get what they need.”
A master gardener from the University of Illinois Extension will also conduct a free gardening class on the patio during three bilingual sessions that will be held at 9, 10 and 11 a.m. during the resource fair.
Dunnigan-Meyer stressed there is a need in the community for so much more than food and is confident the event will become a yearly tradition.
“People need so much more besides food and toiletries. Most of the families that visit for food have other needs whether it’s they have no transportation or medical insurance,” she said. “They need so many other resources and a lot don’t know how to connect or where to find them. If you’re in need of food mostly likely you’re in need of other resources. I’m optimistic we’ll continue to host this annually at the very least.”
A press release from the pantry notes that the first 50 families attending the upcoming fair will receive “a swag bag full of goodies” and that there will be gift baskets raffled off.
Hamburgers and hot dogs will be served for free at the event until supplies run out, organizers said.
For more information on the event, email Dunnigan-Meyer at rdunnigan@aurorafoodpantry.org or call her at 630-692-3061.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.