Summer is here, which means local food pantries need donations to help feed hungry kids during school holidays. They need kid-friendly foods like microwavable macaroni and cheese and juice boxes.
This year, the food pantry has another need: Spanish-speaking volunteers.
Food pantry organizers say they are seeing an increase in Latin American migrants who speak little or no English among those seeking food assistance. They have been bussed from border states to reception centers in Chicago and elsewhere in recent months. Now, some of the new arrivals are moving to the southern part of the state in search of work and housing, organizers say. Food pantries in the Illinois Valley have seen growing demand, driven by other factors such as inflation that affect people on fixed incomes.
At the Streeterland Community Food Pantry, Director Bertie Beckman is asking donors to help out in any way they can: “Right now, we’re running low on food in our pantry,” she said. One thing they need is help communicating with their growing number of Spanish-speaking customers.
The Rev. Ignacio Cardenas Moran, parish priest for Streator Catholic Parish, confirmed the influx of immigrants based in part on increased Hispanic attendance at Masses.
“I know that many of them are from Guatemala and Honduras,” said Father Cardenas, a native of Mexico who also speaks Spanish, “and some are from Colombia.”
This isn’t just a problem in Streator: Several food pantry managers across the Illinois Valley have noted a recent increase in Spanish-speaking customers, and the associated difficulties in communicating with new clients.
“We’ve always had a significant percentage of people who primarily speak Spanish,” said Marissa Visick, executive director of Ottawa’s Community Food Basket, “but we’ve definitely seen a big increase in the last couple of months.”
Tracy Cooper, executive director of the Mendota Area Christian Food Pantry, noticed the influx of migrants in late winter. She said most of the migrants came from Chicago, obtained work visas there, then connected with agencies downstate for job and housing assistance.
“Usually it only takes one or two visits. In the first month we had eight migrants, but after that it was down to three or four a month.”
— Tracy Cooper, Executive Director, Mendota Area Christian Pantry
Cooper said most of the new arrivals were accompanied by Youth Service Bureau staff, who typically provide translators to help them with the registration process and then take them for medical check-ups for their often seasonal jobs. Most only need a few food donations until they can get paid.
“Usually it’s one or two visits,” Cooper said. “The first month we had eight migrants, but after that it was down to three or four a month.”
Finding qualified interpreters is doubly difficult because of dialect differences between the Spanish spoken in Mexico, for example, and the language spoken further south, said Jean Martin, executive director of the Hall Township Food Pantry in Spring Valley.
“Our newest customers are from places like Nicaragua and Honduras,” Martin said. “Their dialects are different from the Spanish spoken locally. I’ve put out a petition online, but so far no one has responded. It’s a challenge.”
Mary Jo Credi, executive director of the Illinois Valley Food Pantry in LaSalle, said she uses translation apps on her phone to help new arrivals, and while smartphones have helped her get by, she really needs native speakers.
The new clients have put added pressure on food pantries to provide food assistance over the summer, and Credi needs donations as well as translators.
“We’re already seeing a surge,” Credi said. “Last Wednesday, on food distribution day, we signed up with nine new families in the space of three hours. We’re seeing a surge in new clients, we’ve been inundated with people asking for additional help. This is unusual.”
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