EDGEWATER — A Far North Side food pantry is in need of more volunteers, financial support and new retail partners after the sudden closure of Dom’s Kitchen & Market left it with a “massive deficit” in food offerings.
Care for Real, the food pantry with locations in Edgewater and Rogers Park, used to get thousands of pounds of groceries from Dom’s before the upscale grocer abruptly closed late last month. The food pantry offered its clients pre-packaged meals like sandwiches and salads donated from Dom’s, Jen Kouba, Care For Real director of development and communications, said.
But when volunteers showed up for a scheduled pick-up at a Dom’s store April 23, they were turned away by workers who informed them the store was closing, effective immediately.
Some Care for Real clients are feeling the loss as the pantry is “scrambling” to find new retail partners and increase volunteer capacity to possibly pick up groceries outside of the city, Kouba said.
“The demand is so high,” she said. “This is a real loss for our clients.”
Last year, Care for Real picked up over 52,000 pounds of food from Dom’s. So far this year, the food pantry was getting about 3,000 pounds a month from the store, Kouba said.
Half of the food Care for Real provides — about 1 million pounds — comes from grocery chains like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Jewel Osco and Mariano’s as well as Dom’s, Kouba said.
Without the food from Dom’s, Care for Real is working with the Great Chicago Food Depository to find new grocery partners, but they might not be within city limits, which means volunteers will have to drive further for pick-ups.
With no advance notice of Dom’s closure, the food pantry didn’t have time to foster new relationships with other grocers, Care For Real officials said.
The pre-packaged meals Care for Real used to get from Dom’s were vital because the food pantry serves individuals and families who may not have access to a kitchen or have the ability to cook, Kouba said.
Kate Gignac, director of programs at Care for Real, said clients immediately noticed the lack of Dom’s groceries.
The shortage of pre-packaged, ready-to-eat food will also affect people who show up to Care for Real urgently in need of a meal, Gignac said.
“We encounter people throughout the week who are hungry at this moment, so we really benefitted from meals like that,” she said. “It’s hard when someone starts to rely on something that we have no control over.”
The end of Care for Real’s partnership with Dom’s comes as the food pantry is seeing a “record high” need for meals from neighbors.
Over the last fiscal year, Care for Real served nearly 13,000 individuals — up about 26 percent from the previous year, Kouba said. The pantry also had a 12 percent increase in new household visits last year compared to the year before.
Care for Real serves individuals and families within the 60626, 60640, 60645, 60659 and 60660 zip codes. People can visit either the Edgewater pantry at 5339 N. Sheridan Road or the Rogers Park location at 1545 W. Morse Ave. once a week.
The Edgewater location is open for food distribution 4-7 p.m. Mondays, 9 a.m.-noon Wednesdays and 9 a.m-1 p.m. Saturdays. The Rogers Park location is open noon-2 p.m. Tuesdays and 4-6 p.m. Thursdays.
Local grocers or food retailers interested in getting involved with Care for Real’s food rescue program can email info@careforreal.org. Information on volunteering with Care for Real is on the food pantry’s website.
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