COOL food pantry sees record number of visitors
By Judy Masterson jmasterson@stmedianetwork.com December 30, 2011 9:45PM
Waukegan 12/8/11 COOL Food Pantry volunteer Pam Gottman of Gunree rolls some bread in Waukegan on Thursday morning. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media
Christian
Outreach of
Lutherans
127 W. Water St.
Waukegan
(847) 662-1340
www.coolministries.org
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Updated: February 1, 2012 8:00AM
The poor have always come to COOL — the downtown Waukegan food pantry operated by Christian Outreach of Lutherans. But a new kind of patron — people who have jobs — is walking through the door of the cozy storefront that wafts with the yeasty smell of day-old bread.
“We’re getting more and more everyday,” said Gayle Olson, pantry manager. “People who were making it paycheck to paycheck, scraping by, couples both working, but who are having a harder time because of gas and food prices.”
It has been nearly 30 years since the pantry at 127 W. Water St. began offering food assistance at the peak of another lingering recession that saw the nationwide unemployment rate climb to 10.8 percent. But what began as an emergency response to hunger in Lake County has never let up. It continues in support of those who for myriad reasons — illness, lack of education, unemployment, low wages, high cost of housing and utilities — can’t pay for what they eat.
“I’ve been coming here for years,” said Tricia Lott, 49, of Waukegan, a self-employed hat and clothing designer.
“I get food stamps and when my cupboards get low, I come here.”
Another woman, who asked that her name not be used, said her job doesn’t pay enough.
“They just cut my hours even more,” she said. “There’s sickness in the family. I’m glad to have this place here.”
COOL, which also runs a pantry in Ingleside and a transitional housing program, is one of seven social service agencies that will receive funds from Help Them to Hope, the Lake County News-Sun’s holiday campaign.
“I’m thankful we’ve made it to 2012,” said COOL Executive Director Diane Thackston.
“We’re coming up on our anniversary year. A gift to COOL goes to people who are truly needy, people who are really thankful.”
A record 1,000 unduplicated visits were made to the pantry in November. From Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, COOL served 14,155 families — nearly 31,000 individuals.
The pantry struggles to make its own dollars stretch — spending between $3,000 and $5,000 per month at the Northern Illinois Food Bank, where $20 buys 160 pounds of food. Under a new program, NIFB trucks in a load of free perishables each week. More than half of what COOL distributes comes from individual and group donations.
“What comes in goes right back out,” Olson said.
Pantry clients are limited to one distribution of food per month, but those who are seasoned travelers on the pantry circuit know there’s leeway. There is always bread. And if they ask “What do you have today?” they can sometimes get more.
“I wish we could have no limit,” Thackston said.
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