James Turner, a security guard at O’Hare International Airport, has been coming to the Pantry since May. Turner supports his younger sister and her 5-year-old son. He recently had to take two months off work for medical reasons and has been struggling to catch up ever since.

“We ran out of food a week ago, so we’re ready,” he says.

Much of the produce, meat and canned goods distributed at the Irving Park Community Food Pantry comes from the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which received $250,000 from the Trust to combat increasing hunger through its Unity Challenge campaign.

Beginning in the 1970s with one woman’s generosity toward hungry members of her church, the Irving Park Community Food Pantry became a nonprofit in 1987. Today, the Pantry has a staff of about 30 active volunteers—who say the current level of need is unlike anything they have seen. In September 2009, they served 1,929 people in 672 households: a 30% increase over September 2008.

“On an average week we have about 20 or 30 new clients enrolling in the program,” says John Psiharis, the pantry’s executive director. “The pantry has never experienced this, in terms of the number of people coming in for help.”

Newlyweds Frank and Kimberly Soto of Kelvyn Park never expected to be here. Frank was laid off from his job as a machinist in April, and soon learned that food stamps alone aren’t enough to feed two people.

“I don’t consider myself poor, it’s just things happen. It’s just circumstances. Sometimes you have to swallow your pride,” he says. “I just thank God there is a place like this,” he adds. “Otherwise, I don’t know where we’d be.”

Learn more about the Unity Challenge