Lyondell partners with others to fill pantry

LyondellBasell employees donated $650 and provided enough volunteers to help unload 6,115 pounds of food that was ordered from Northern Illinois Food Bank.

NIFB is also able to provide Thanksgiving meal boxes, which include a turkey and all the trimmings, for a very low price of just $16.

Morris Lions Club donated 50 of those and New Community Christian Church donated another 20.
Each organization provided volunteers to help unload the truck and distribute turkeys and holiday meal boxes.

In total, 184 families throughout Grundy County received help with their Thanksgiving meal from We Care.

“LyondellBasell Morris Plant employees are very grateful to have such a fine organization as We Care to partner with on our food drives,” said Larry Zazeski,  of LyondellBasell.

“Especially during the holiday season, it is very rewarding to have a means to share our gratitude for all of our blessings.”

“We enjoy working with We Care at Thanksgiving,” noted Dr. George Roebuck of the Morris Lions Club.

“This community supports the Lions Club so generously that we are privileged to have this opportunity to share that generosity with those in need. It’s really what this holiday is all about... being thankful for our blessings and sharing those blessings with others.”

We Care receives a monthly delivery of food for the pantry from the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

The NIFB is able to provide food to food pantries at prices that are unattainable in grocery stores, such as 24-ounce boxes of beef and vegetable egg rolls for 16 cents, 10-ounce cans of enchilada sauce for four cents, and 9.5-ounce bottles of mustard for 12 cents.

In addition to the food that We Care purchases with the donations, the food pantry also receives food that is provided for free as part of the Emergency Food Program.

The EFP food delivered in November included items such as whole chickens, beef stew, turkey roasts, leg of lamb roasts, fruit cocktail, spaghetti sauce and peanut butter.