As a child, Stacy Jones stood in line at a food pantry with her grandmother.
“I know what it’s like to be hungry and to have to ask for food,” she says. Now she’s ensuring the people standing in the Collinsville Food Pantry line are treated with dignity and positive energy.
“When you can provide someone a little bit of dignity, it’s infectious,” says Stacy.
The pantry helps fill in the gap caused by rising prices and stagnant wages.
“When you can help level the playing field, it elevates human dignity, and people begin to believe they’re going to be okay.”
Sometimes dignity is as simple as having more than one item in the refrigerator. “To be able to open the refrigerator and have a choice for your family is something amazing,” Stacy says. “To have a choice — how wonderful!”
After the Army, Stacy worked in retail, but she says she wanted something more for her life, so she transitioned to the non-profit world. She’s been the director of services at the Collinsville Food Pantry for 1.5 years.
IL-EATS provides high-quality food
The pantry supplements food needs for Collinsville residents. Residents can access the pantry twice a month if they meet the income guidelines.
The pantry relies entirely on donations, which can make it challenging to control the quality and variety of products they distribute. During a routine inspection of the pantry’s freezer, a representative of Operation Food Search, a nearby hunger relief organization, introduced Stacy to IL-EATS.
Through IL-EATS, organizations like Operation Food Search receive funding to purchase high-quality, local foods from Illinois farmers. That food is then distributed at no cost to underserved communities through places like the Collinsville Food Pantry.
The USDA Local Food Purchase Assistance Program provides the funding through a partnership with the Illinois Department of Agriculture and Illinois Extension.
The program now provides fresh applesauce, honey, milk, cheese, popcorn, beef, pork, and poultry to the Collinsville Food Pantry from Illinois farms including Liberty Apple Orchard in Edwardsville; Ella and Ollie Popcorn in Belleville; Bee Life in Frankfort; Bland Family Farms in Jacksonville; Wenneman Meat Co. in St. Libory; Triple C Meats in Ana; Buckhorn Dairy in Mt. Sterling; and Mulberry Creek Meats in Bartelso.
An Extension SNAP-Education staff member provides recipes so people understand how to use the food products in their meals.
“It provides another level of dignity and humanity to people,” Stacy says. “And, it aligns closely with our mission: Offering hope and a helping hand up to those in need.”
Pantry clients include elderly or retired individuals on limited budgets, single-parent households, and large families. The Collinsville Food Pantry is the only pantry operating on this scale in the area.
“There is humanity in this program,” Stacy says of the group’s transient program. “People leave and know they can eat that day. It’s one less thing they have to worry about.”
Volunteers carry out the mission
There are two full-time staff members, two part-time employees, and a host of volunteers supporting the organization’s four main outreach programs. Many have volunteered for more than 10 years.
Beverly Hensley, 81, began volunteering in retirement after her husband died. She says something as simple as allowing patrons to use a shopping cart and choose their own food from the shelves provides a level of dignity to the pantry users.
Jean often greets the patrons and guides them through registration. “They come here when they don’t have anywhere else to go,” she says. “We talk to them and help them feel comfortable.”
Sue added, “You worry when they don’t show up.”
Outreach Efforts
The organization provides three additional programs.
Soup kitchen: The Spirit of Sharing (SOS) Soup Kitchen hosts a soup kitchen two times a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the year. With the support of community organizations, businesses, civic organizations, and faith-based groups, they feed about 220 drive-through meals on average.
Transient programs: The Collinsville Food Pantry helps the transient population, individuals who may be staying or working in the area for a short time, get IDs by providing notary services. They provide shelter access and toiletry items, such as shampoo, toothpaste, combs, and lip balm. They also provide a flatware bag with a plate, cup, and silverware. Every other day, people can pick up food bags filled with a protein drink and protein pouches, fruit, snacks, and easy-open, ready-to-eat meals. Bus tokens and bus passes are also available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Tote Me Home food packs: The pantry provides food for the weekend for 228 Collinsville Unit 10 school district students and nearby parochial K-12 school students. The packs include a variety of nutritious foods.
Stacy is expanding her outreach and partnerships to secure the pantry’s future during the current economic uncertainties. She’s a fighter whose determination echoes that of her hero, fictional boxer Rocky Balboa. Sketches of Balboa line her office walls.
“He was the only one who believed in himself,” she says. “Then, he brought everyone along with him.”
And so it is with Stacy’s grit and determination to make the Collinsville Food Pantry a bigger resource for the community.
“It really is my honor to do this work,” she says. “I feel I am where I’m supposed to be.”
Learn more
To learn more or partner with the Collinsville Food Pantry, call Stacy at 618-346-1861 or email her at director@collinsvillefp.org. Check out the group’s website at collinsvillefoodpantry.org.