<p>Joey Thurman:<br />The holidays are times when people think about giving, but people are hungry year round. The Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry is providing more than just food. They're giving families the opportunity to tell their story through food, giving and love.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Shannon, we're at a food pantry and we're not in the holidays right now.<br /><br />Shannon Cameron:<br />We're not, no. No, hunger does not take just a holiday. It's all the time. Unfortunately, there's a lot of food insecurity in our community and we're ready to meet it.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />And what is it that you guys do here? I know there's a lot of moving parts and noises and people. And what is it, if you could pinpoint it?<br /><br />Shannon Cameron:<br />We feed people. I mean, in a variety of different ways, we make sure that anyone that comes to us is fed. And so we do that in a variety of ways. We have weekly distributions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, about to go Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, here at the pantry. But we do it in a lot of other ways, trying to break down the barriers to food access and bring food to the people.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Okay. And when you say food access, what does that mean for somebody just watching this who doesn't really know what that is?<br /><br />Shannon Cameron:<br />Sure. So there is a plethora of food in this country. It's not because people can't get food in the fact that there's not enough food for everyone. It's because there's socioeconomic reasons, poverty, et cetera, that they can't pay for the food. And especially with raising food costs. Right now, rising food costs, it's harder and harder for people that are at the poverty line or just above that, the working poor, to get the nutritious food they need.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />And you said something there, working poor. I think sometimes people think that someone coming to a food pantry is not actually working or has a job, but I mean, these are individuals that have large families and they're coming several days a week and you have lines around the block. Correct?<br /><br />Shannon Cameron:<br />Right. So we certainly serve people that are unemployed, but the majority of people that we serve not only have one, but possibly two working adults in the family. So often it's not an issue of they're not working. It's that it's just not enough to cover their needs.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Yeah.<br /><br />Shannon Cameron:<br />And that's why we're here to make sure that any money they might spend on food that can go to other things like rent, education, medicine, healthcare, et cetera.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Yeah. And how are you filling this gap where people need food and they don't have access to food? What are you doing besides actually people driving here or coming inside?<br /><br />Shannon Cameron:<br />So we've done that in a variety of ways, including people who lack transportation, they can't come to us, so we're doing food delivery once a week. It's called our pantry-to-go program. They get an emergency food box delivered to their front door. We have kid's pop-up pantries once to twice a month. We have senior pop-ups where we go to low income senior homes to make sure they have food. We have women's empowerment mobile pantries.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />And what other things, you do pet drives as well?<br /><br />Shannon Cameron:<br />Yeah. So once a month we do a pet pantry. It's the third Wednesday of the month from 10:00 to 12:00. And if a family is food insecure, most likely their pets are too. And we know there are so many benefits to having a pet in the family, mental health benefits, et cetera. It might be the thing that gets the person to wake up and take care of themself because they also have the pet to take care of.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Now where are you getting funding and where is the food coming from?<br /><br />Shannon Cameron:<br />So we have a partnership with a Northern Illinois Food Bank up in Geneva and we have a contract with them. So we purchase a lot of our food and we also get some free food from them as well. But all of our revenue is through donations. So we depend on the individual donor, foundational like Community Foundation here in Aurora, Dunham Foundation are really imperative to big projects that we have to do. We depend on those individual donations and grants, et cetera, to get through our operating costs, so.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />What are the things that people specifically need that you want to think of?<br /><br />Shannon Cameron:<br />So some of the food items that we could use here are a variety of things, but I think really culturally specific items. So what do you use in your, with your family to teach them about your culture? So we have a large Hispanic population here. We try to provide for that, but there might be certain kinds of sauces, peppers, spices that you want to make sure have. I mean, you tell your story and your ancestor's story through food often, and we want that to be handed down to kids. So we want to make sure that all of our populations that we serve have that story to tell and pass on through food.<br /><br />Shannon Cameron:<br />Just really anything that you think is great and that you love, I'm sure we have people here that would love as well. But I will also say some non-food items, the hygiene products, those are things we can't get at a reduced rate.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Yeah.<br /><br />Shannon Cameron:<br />So the feminine hygiene, menstrual hygiene, the diapers, formula, things like that would be really helpful too.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />And now where can people, if they want to give money or donate different products, where can they go to?<br /><br />Shannon Cameron:<br />They can go to our website, aurorafoodpantry.org or any of our social media, Aurora Food Pantry. We desperately need volunteers right now, as well as funds, of course, always. But come on and join us. You'll always feel good, whether you donate, whether you come here and work, you'll leave knowing you made an impact to the community.</p>