From 500 Meals Per Week To 13,000: Non-Profit Serves Needy

LAKE COUNTY, IL — The Roberti Community House in Waukegan shifted gears when the coronavirus pandemic hit the suburbs. The gathering place in a distressed area in Waukegan launched in 2011 as a community education and assistance facility, which focused on after-school care for area youth and training adults for jobs in the culinary field.

Pam Fisher, volunteer coordinator and food distribution manager, said once COVID-19 became a part of our new reality, the Roberti Community House had to close its doors. The organization that had been focused on serving as a space to share stories, support one another and learn together, needed new ways to reach its regulars.

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It started when they began to worry about "their kids," the students who frequented Roberti Community House, who were now out of school .

"We started wondering what was going to happen to our kids who rely on school for two meals a day," she said. So volunteers started packing bagged lunches and would hand them out outside. That effort has grown tremendously since then.

Assisted by volunteers and made possible by grants, the community house now has four distribution sites and is handing out nearly 13,000 meals per week to food-insecure families in Lake County--a huge feat considering in March, they were distributing around 500 meals per week.

The meal kits they hand out now contain enough food for 40 meals.

And as winter nears, the organization wanted to make sure they could still hand out its kits safely outside. So, they bought a tent, Fisher said.

They put up the "heavy-duty" tent in early October. A short time later, a massive storm ripped through, bending the tent's poles. And they were back to square one, Fisher said. They worked with the company to get replacement poles for the tent and volunteers got it back up again.

A couple days later, on Nov. 10, severe storms ripped through again, downing the tent.

"It was devastating," she said.

Fisher said she's hoping someone in the community may have an answer to the organization's tent woes. She said she is not a "tent expert" and has run out of ideas, and is looking, even, for advice on how to secure the tent to make sure they can safely serve those in need once it gets cold out.

Those who can provide some assistance or answers can reach out to Fisher at volunteerrch@gmail.com.

Patch has partnered with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2020, more than 50 million Americans will not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.