Over the last few months, as access to food tends to vary, Westminster Presbyterian Church in DeKalb has seen great success in their efforts to provide food for those in need. Their efforts are supported in part through a $3,000 DeKalb County COVID-19 Response Grant they received in April 2020.

The Church began by offering a community dinner, prepared and served meals, to assist in the short term until the mobile pantries were funded and underway. The community dinner served 147 residents. Since then, mobile pantries have started in the Church parking lot. Over the last few weeks, about six mobile food pickups served over 2,500 people, each returning home with approximately 40lbs of food.

Additional items purchased with the grant dollars include safety supplies, material handling, traffic cones, and PPE for large outdoor events.

Ongoing needs for Westminster Presbyterian Church include more food. As the financial situation for many are filled with uncertainty at this time, necessities such as food become even more valuable and needed.

Westminster Presbyterian Church, located in DeKalb, IL, lives by their mission to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Their COVID-19 response is the feed the masses.

Pictured Above: Cars line up during a mobile food pantry at Westminster Presbyterian Church in DeKalb.

Thank you to the many donors whose gifts make grants like these possible! And thank you to the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund for the multiple grants that boosted the amount we were able to give in response to local needs. 

Funding for this grant program is made possible by the DeKalb County COVID-19 Response Fund, a new component pass through Fund created in collaboration with various local funding partners. The Fund’s purpose is to be a depository for contributions intended to respond to the effects of COVID-19 in DeKalb County by distributing grants that address preparedness, response, recovery, and/or rebuilding efforts.