Illinois Valley Food Pantry Officially Reopens at New Location

It’s official. The Illinois Valley Food Pantry is open for business again after briefly being closed while it moved into a new building at 4133 Progress Blvd. in Peru. The first food distribution from the Pantry’s new home will be from 3-6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the new building was held Tuesday morning, Sept. 30. Members of the Illinois Valley Area Chamber of Commerce were joined at the ceremony by Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski, members of the local banking community who helped finance the Food Pantry’s purchase of the new structure and members of the Pantry’s board of directors along with staff and volunteers.

Renovations to the 10,000-square-foot warehouse structure—formerly the Hoover Manufacturing Company—that is now the Food Pantry’s home are not yet finished. Two large walk-in refrigerator/freezer units are expected to be installed in the coming weeks and Pantry officials hope to eventually remodel the building to enable drive-through pick-ups.

In conjunction with acquiring its new building, the Illinois Valley Food Pantry has launched a $750,000 “Feeding the Future” fund drive to pay for it along with needed improvements. Contributions to the campaign can be made online at www.ivfoodpantry.com. Call 815-224-3658 for more information.

The Pantry last year delivered food to almost 14,000 people from more than 5,000 families living in 12 area cities and towns.