With a potential pot of $8.74 million in play, DuPage County officials are examining a number of programs and funding scenarios to help combat the growing prevalence of food insecurity.
No firm decisions have been made, but the DuPage County Board is considering contributions toward Loaves and Fishes’ Hub 2.0 food distribution and warehouse expansion project, as well as dollars toward infrastructure improvements for other countywide food shelters and a farm to pantry program.
A look at potential funding scenarios in 2026, 2027
District 6 County Board member Greg Schwarze and Mary Keating, the county’s director of community services, provided a presentation of a food insecurity funding proposal at a Tuesday, March 10, board meeting.
Their proposal entails a $6.82 million program proposal out of the $8.74 million set aside through surplus funds in other budgetary years. The remaining $1.92 million would remain set aside for future use.
The program funding allocations include $2.5 million toward Loaves and Fishes’ expansion, $2 million for a transformational funding initiative open to countywide food pantries, $2 million to help the Northern Illinois Food Bank enhance its fresh produce, and $322,000 toward a farm-to-pantry program that would be done in collaboration with The Conservation Foundation.
The latest package on the table is on top of $12.6 million the county has allocated toward food insecurity measures from 2020 to 2025 through grants and capital funding toward equipment to help build out capacity as needs have risen.
“There’s no doubt that this board has been pro-fighting against food insecurity,” said Schwarze, chair of the County Board’s Human Services Committee. “I’m just very thankful that we’ve all come together to combat this issue.”
Amid the recent wide-ranging discussion, Keating described the transformational funding component as “DuPage Food Pantry Challenge Grants” that would include provisions for matching funds.
“We’re proposing the board utilize $2 million from funds that have already been set aside for food, as we invite DuPage food pantries with capacity to help us meet our goal of transforming the food system infrastructure to get the food to people in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible,” Keating said.
These grants would incentivize pantries to work with community partners and with other pantries to create lasting change.
An update on Loaves and Fishes’ expansion project
Mike Havala, president and CEO of Loaves and Fishes, spoke to the board about the organization’s 32,000-square-foot expansion of its food distribution hub in Aurora to meet ever-rising demand throughout the region. Groundbreaking is set to begin this spring.
Hub 2.0, Havala said, builds off a recent string of operational improvements within the organization and includes provisions for four times more cold storage and an enhanced focus on healthy food, among other initiatives.
“There’s a growing — significantly growing — population of people who are food insecure in DuPage County,” Havala said. “There’s also a very significant unmet need because the demand has risen much faster than the capacity of our pantries to serve that need. Our pantries are pretty much at capacity with the resources and infrastructure that exists today.”
An estimated 35% to 40% of Loaves and Fishes’ recipients reside within DuPage County, Havala said. Loaves & Fishes made a $4.5 million investment in its current hub facility, which opened in 2021. The estimated cost for the Hub 2.0 expansion is expected to be around $8 million. Havala said fundraising work is still taking place.
The number of people Loaves and Fishes serves has multiplied in recent years, Havala said. Prime candidates, he indicated, are those who fall within what he described as the “SNAP gap.” A family of three, for instance, could earn between $43,000 — the SNAP program cutoff — and $91,000 annually and be in need of food assistance within DuPage County.
“SNAP’s good, but there’s a long way to go to address food insecurity.” Havala said, pointing out cost of living increases through inflationary pressures in recent years has exacerbated the challenges local households are facing.
County board members weigh in on funding proposals
The food insecurity report at the recent board meeting was a primer to potential action on actual funding allocations in the months ahead. No firm decisions were made at the board’s March 10 meeting.
Based on deliberations, there was support among some of the board’s membership for filling Loaves and Fishes’ $2.5 million funding request.
“As far as accountability, I have all of the quality assurances now, knowing this is a capital grant toward Hub 2.0,” District 3 board member Lucy Chang Evans said. “I really appreciate how this is structured. I think it is very responsible.”
But several board members, including Brian Krajewski, of District 3, questioned why Kane, Kendall, and Will counties — all areas within Loaves and Fishes’ distribution area — are not providing funding as well.
“I think they need to help participate,” Krajewski said.
In response, Havala said, “Unfortunately, those other counties are not nearly in the same financial situation that DuPage County is. It just is what it is. We need to focus our fundraising attention on everything, and we obviously do, but we have to make sure we’re focused on where there’s the greatest potential.”
There was less consensus, based on the preliminary discussion, of funding the matching grant transformational projects proposal. Several board members suggested further fleshing out the would-be program’s parameters.
Evans suggested a summit or symposium to bring leaders of all DuPage-area food pantries together to better understand each entity’s specific challenges at the moment.
“It would be nice if we could maybe get some people — everyone in the room — and tell us exactly what their needs are,” Evans said. “Then maybe we can finalize the grant to make sure it’s exact.”
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