St. Mary's To Host Mobile Food Pantry On Wednesday, April 8

PLAINFIELD, IL — St. Mary Immaculate Parish in Plainfield plans to host a food pantry event next Wednesday, April 8, in its parking lot as the coronavirus crisis continues. Parish staff told Patch they plan to have enough food to feed 250 families, including perishable items such as fresh meat and vegetables. The event is being run in coordination with the Northern Illinois Food Bank. It will be sponsored by state representative Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield).

This is not the first time the parish has hosted a food pantry during the coronavirus crisis, parish Development Director Pam Angelus told Patch, but it will substantially bigger than previous events.

"On March 26 was our last [food pantry event]," Angelus said. "We served 140 [families]. We had to turn cars away because we just didn't have enough food... [This time] we'll know how many we're letting in our lot and not letting anyone in that we can't service."

To prevent a similar situation, Angelus said the Plainfield police will moderate this event to keep track of how many people are entering the parish lot. Food will be served on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The food pantry will function similar to a drive-thru, Angelus said, with volunteers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves and face masks putting food items directly into patrons' cars.

"They won't even have to get out of their cars," Angelus said.

Wednesday's event will not be the last food pantry, as Angelus said there were plans to host events like it every few weeks until the current pandemic dissipated.

"Every couple weeks is what we're hoping to do while folks are out of work,"Angelus said.

St. Mary Immaculate Parish is located at 15629 on Illinois Rte 59 in Plainfield. The food pantry will be open from 5 to 6:30 p.m. For more information, parish staff can be contacted at 815-436-2651.

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