'Project Angel Food' aims to stock food pantries
by Tom Woolf
 CARBONDALE,
Ill. - A seed planted more than two years ago soon will bear fruit.
A coalition that includes Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a
child-care referral agency, a service organization and a labor union
is planning an all-volunteer campaign to stock the shelves of
child-care centers and food pantries in at least 15 Southern
Illinois counties. The humanitarian undertaking, which organizers
hope to make an annual drive, will help literally thousands of
families.
Partners in "Project Angel Food" are SIUC's Center for
Rural Health and Social Service Development, the Child Care Resource
and Referral Center at John A. Logan College in Carterville, the
Carbondale Kiwanis Noon Club, eight Laborers International locals
and as many as six high school Key Clubs. Helping to address the
needs of surrounding communities is one of the goals of the Southern
at 150 initiative, a long-range plan that offers guidance for the
growth of the University.
Representatives meet on a monthly basis to assess their progress and
the next steps to be taken as they move toward a spring campaign,
which will avoid any conflicts with holiday-oriented drives for
food, clothing, gifts and donations. They are using surveys sent to
44 food pantries and 50 child-care centers to determine needs. The
lengthy list includes: meat, margarine, personal hygiene items,
formula, soup, baby food, canned goods, dry goods, diapers and
produce.
So far, the responses suggest a need for donations of supplies
throughout the year. The planning group is continuing to receive surveys.
The genesis for Project Angel Food was a conversation between Tess
D. Heiple, director of the Center for Rural Health and Social
Service Development, and Donna Haynes, coordinator of Carbondale's
Eurma C. Hayes Center Child Care program. The name for the
undertaking originated with Haynes, who refers to the children at
her center as "angels."
New Illinois Department of Human Services rules meant more people
were moving off welfare and into the work force. That also meant
greater demand for child-care services, particularly infant care.
With new state funds available, Haynes saw an opportunity to serve
more local families by adding 12 more slots to her infant room.
"After the first year in child care, it costs money,"
Haynes said. "The state's reimbursement level does not match
what the actual costs are to each program. So I had this thought of
contacting local agencies and/or businesses to see if they'd make a
donation of baby food, baby items, spoons, milk and formula for the
centers with infant slots to offset some of those costs. I
discovered that's not an easy task to do alone."
In discussing the problem with Heiple, Haynes learned of at least
one area food bank she could tap into on a monthly basis. But she
was in search of companies to donate larger quantities of goods.
While various suppliers said they would help, local agencies would
have to arrange to transport the goods - from warehouses as distant
as Texas, Ohio and Indiana.
"It just kept growing; we would get one issue answered or
committed and discover there was a shoestring untied on the other
foot," Haynes said.
Heiple brought one of her staff members, field representative Martha
Cropper, into a discussion of the problem, which grew to a
conversation about needs for food in general in Southern Illinois.
Another staff member, safety specialist Dan V. Shannon, belongs to
the Carbondale Kiwanis Noon Club, which made a donation to Haynes'
child-care center for emergency supplies.
Heiple noted her office has worked with the Laborers Union on
several other projects. William L. Orrill, director of the
Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust Midwest Region,
is coordinating the union's participation.
"The Kiwanis clubs and the Laborers Union have been very
supportive and excited about participating in this project to help
so many hungry Southern Illinois neighbors and providing emergency
supplies for infants and children," Heiple said.
Nina Wargel, assistant coordinator for programs at the Child Care
Resource and Referral Center, is a member of the Project Angel Food
planning group. Her office helps parents find child care in the
southern 15 counties of the state.
"Child-care centers have such overhead costs and when parents,
especially low-income parents, aren't able to provide supplies, the
centers make up the difference," Wargel said.
Fixed costs extend well beyond rent and utilities.
"There is the number of children per adult," Wargel said.
"With infants, it's a minimum of one adult to four children, so
that requires more staff per number of children. There are minimum
amounts of space needed for infants - areas to sleep, areas to play.
They have to have refrigeration in the center and running water in
proximity to the infant room. Mobile children can walk to the
restroom."
Haynes said it costs between $150 and $250 per month to feed an
infant at her center. "We provide a snack, too," she said.
"And that figure doesn't include the cost of diapers, of rubber
gloves," she said. "Each time you change a child, you have
to use a new pair. You can kill a box of 100 in a minute. There has
got to be someone out there who makes those and would be willing to
sell them wholesale or donate them."
The demands also are great on the region's food pantries, which can
only keep limited supplies on hand due to lack of storage and
refrigeration. According to the survey results, a food
pantry in Pinckneyville serves 300 families each month. In West
Frankfort, the Franklin County Food Pantry is serving 200 families.
A Metropolis pantry serves more than 100 families, while a facility
in Pulaski County's Karnak serves between 400 and 500 families.
Barbara Wingo is executive director of the Anna Bixby Center in
Harrisburg and a food pantry open to community members. In the
fiscal year that ended June 30, the food pantry served about 7,000
families. She projects the pantry will serve 9,000 families this
fiscal year.
"Of the people coming here, at least 85 percent are
elderly," Wingo said.
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