Food for Greater Elgin volunteer Mary Fontaine is one of 18 people across the Midwest to be honored with a Meijer Hunger Relief Hero Award.
“I’m not one who seeks recognition like this, but it’s great. It’s awesome. I hope the attention can lead to us getting more volunteers and to raising awareness about what we do here at Food for Greater Elgin,” Fontaine said.
Big-box retailer Meijer created the award “to highlight the dedication and impact of volunteers working to address food insecurity in their local communities,” according to the company’s website. It received nearly 400 nominations.
Fontaine was nominated for the award by the CEO of the nonprofit, where Fontaine has offered her services for about 12 years after retiring as a management consultant.
“I learned about Food for Greater Elgin and appreciate their mission. Everybody needs a way to get their food,” Fontaine said.
Volunteering gives her a way to put her tech skills, business systems knowledge and organizational/management abilities to use, she said.
She’s part of the nonprofit’s logistics projects team, which helps oversee the food pantry registration system and coordinates its delivery program for people who are housebound.
She also assists drop-off programs at local schools, mobile pantries set up for seniors or income-qualifying residents, and initiatives benefiting the homeless. The work can involve everything from creating route lists and to putting together inventory distribution plans to creating a document system for training new volunteers and employees, she said.
All told, she’ll put in 25 to 35 hours a week and sometimes brings her 12-year-old granddaughter with to help, something she’s not alone in doing.
“The volunteers here are so great, and a good many people volunteer (with) friends and family,” she said.
One married couple who are ER doctors like to bring their children with them when they work, particularly in summer, Fontaine said. There’s a musician who’s part of a national touring act who comes with his girlfriend. Some people who have received help from Food for Greater Elgin will volunteer their time, she said.
“We’re flexible, welcoming and supportive,” Fontaine said.
Food for Greater Elgin CEO Andres Diez said Fontaine is part of a strong core of about 200 volunteers, many of them retirees, who provide thousands of hours a year to the organization.
The idea to nominate Fontaine for the Meijer award grew out of an initiative Diez said he started three years ago after taking the job at Food for Greater Elgin. The Champion of the Month Award recognizes volunteers, and Fontaine was one of the first recipients.
“Mary is dedicated, has a strong work ethic, a great skills set and a wonderful personality. She’s a team player and a proactive one,” Diez said.
Help is especially appreciated now, with the need for food assistance increasing due to inflation, changes in SNAP benefit regulations and upcoming changes in Medicaid policy, he said. The food pantry gets about 150,000 annual visits at its warehouse and through its offsite distribution service.
“We anticipate that visits will go up by 20% to 25% for our new fiscal year, which starts this month,” Diez said. “We oversee the distribution of about 4 million pounds of food a year. With a staff of nine, we couldn’t do that without volunteers.”
The organization is fortunate on so many levels, including that local foundations, businesses and individuals have stepped up to make sure the pantry is stocked, he said.
Meijer takes part in Food for Greater Elgin’s Direct Connect program by suppling food and other items the pantry. Its Elgin store also lets customers buy gift cards to be donated to the organization.
“That’s been bringing in about $9,000 a year for us,” Diez said. “We typically spend about $10,000 a month buying items so that comes close to covering a month of those expenses.”
For her part, Fontaine said she’s happy to have found an organization to which she can give of her time during this stage of her life.
“It’s about making a difference, giving back and adding goodness to the world,” she said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
