Churches Hope to Harvest a Bounty for Needy Families

Whether your family’s Thanksgiving dinner features baked ham, lasagna, enchiladas or a traditional turkey with stuffing, there’s no doubt the holiday wouldn’t be the same without a table laden with food.

For families finding it tough to come up with funds for everyday groceries, let alone a Thanksgiving Day feast, there is Harvest Saturday, an annual one-day, village-wide food drive.

Volunteers from four area churches will make the rounds, going door-to-door to pick up donations left outside by residents’ front doors.

“We go around and collect it,” said organizer Terry Hinchey. “We do the entire village.”

This year’s Harvest Saturday is set for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. Donors are asked to place their donations by their front doors by 11 a.m.

Hinchey said Harvest Saturday, a food drive conducted each year in many area communities, has been an annual tradition in Romeoville for 18 years.

“They’re always the weekend before Thanksgiving,” she said. “That’s the time of year when people really begin to think about Thanksgiving and being thankful for everything they have and helping others in need.”

Last year, she said, donors gave more than 1,200 boxes of food.

This year, Romeoville’s Harvest Saturday will be headquartered at , 505 Kingston Drive, where volunteers will deposit their pick-ups and sort food before it is collected by area food pantries for distribution. Hinchey said no food will be distributed at St. Andrew’s the day of the drive; those interested in receiving food should contact local pantries.

Food collected will be distributed through the We Care pantry at St. Andrew’s, Shepherd’s Pantry at , the Community Service Council and two Joliet-area pantries.

In addition to parishioners from St. Andrew’s, members of , and United Presbyterian Church are helping with the food drive, Hinchey said.

Hinchey said food collectors are looking for donations of breakfast cereal, stuffing and pancake mixes, pasta and canned items such as soups, tuna, baked beans, vegetable and fruit juices. Food drive volunteers also will accept items such as coffee, tea, peanut butter, jelly, laundry detergent, mayonnaise, ketchup, toilet paper, baby food and diapers.

Hinchey said the need in the community is growing.

“There are many families that are in desperate need because of how the economy is,” she said. “The more you look out your back door, the more you see people in need.”

Hinchey said she expects a good turnout of volunteers and donors.

“With the faithful community, we always get a good turnout,” she said.

For more information or to volunteer, call St. Andrew the Apostle Church at 815-886-4165, ext. 303.