TLS Hosts Mobile Pantry Visits at VFS Drop-in Center

VFS worker carries food to a car.

Each month, scores of veterans and military families can receive food assistance through a mobile pantry that visits the Lake-McHenry Veterans and Family Services’ drop-in center in McHenry, Illinois.

The visits are a collaborative effort: The mobile pantry is a Northern Illinois Food Bank program. TLS, a partner agency in the NIFB distribution network, sponsors the visits. McHenry County Veterans Assistance Commission screens for families in need of food assistance. Volunteers from TLS, the VAC and AmeriCorps help with distribution.

The need for visits was based on factors that include:

Unemployment among veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars is higher than the rest of the population, according to U.S. Labor Department data released in April.
Military assistance groups acknowledge that troops and their families are grappling with hidden wounds in the aftermath of 10 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. These include financial pressures related to multiple deployments.
McHenry County has 2,637 unemployed veterans, according to data collected last February for a homeless veterans’ summit.
Of the 202 homeless people surveyed in McHenry County last January, 51 were veterans.

The mobile pantry offers nutritious foods, including meat and produce. Visits can serve up to 250 households and are planned year-round at the VFS resource center (5330 Elm St., McHenry, Illinois).

Veterans and military families can call the VAC at 815-334-4229 to see if you are eligible to participate.

Lake-McHenry Veterans and Family Services is an initiative of the Lake County Health Department and the McHenry County Mental Health Board. Its overarching goal is to better provide for the well being of veterans, military members and their families. It is funded through the federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

For details, call 815-322-2620.

AmeriCorps volunteers at a pantry visit in July.