Donors, volunteers step up after food pantry in Wheaton forced to discard 3 tons of items due to power outage
Community members, donors and volunteers are stepping up to help a food pantry in Wheaton, Illinois, that was impacted by Monday's severe storms.
The People's Resource Center had to discard three tons of food in the garbage after a storm knocked out power at the center for hours.
"It was lost and we had to replace it," said People's Resource Center CEO Jeni Fabian.
Fabian showed the spots where three tons of food had been refrigerated at their Wheaton location on Monday.
"It was heartbreaking to throw away the food because we know how much our neighbors need these groceries," she said.
Two coolers, three standing coolers and a walk-in cooler and walk-in freezer, all filled with food, had to be thrown away after the center lost power for 14 hours.
Crews were still working on power restoration in the area. The facility feeds about 600 households a week.
The center made an appeal on social media for the urgent need for food. Neighbors responded, opening their hearts and wallets.
"We donated some money just toward them restocking the pantry," said Joe Matuch. "We know all the good they do for our community, for people who are new to the area, refugees and other people in need. So, I know the good work they do, so we just really wanted to help them out and toward their goal.
Joe Matuch's son Sam also gave some of his allowance money.
"I donated like six dollars," he said.
As the money and donations of produce, fresh protein and dairy are coming in, volunteers are working to reopen the center on Wednesday.
Lester, who works full time as a Metro police officer, says he's grateful. He says he comes to the center every two weeks to receive additional food for his wife and the 20 children he cares for.
"It means a whole lot to me. We need the food," he said.
"People's Resource Center is here to help when there's literal storms or personal storms hit for families across DuPage," Fabian said.
If you would like to help, visit the People's Resource Center's website.
