Ottawa’s Feed His Children receives grant to help send groceries home with kids

Children and their families in La Salle and Bureau counties will receive extra groceries in part thanks to a recent grant awarded by the Starved Rock Country Community Foundation.

Feed His Children was awarded a $1,500 community grant by the Ottawa-based foundation.

Working through the school system, Feed His Children provides supplemental grocery bags to more than 600 families two weekends each month, according to a news release.

“When donors invest in the Starved Rock Country Community Foundation, they are indirectly supporting organizations like Feed His Children,” SRCCF President Fran Brolley said in a statement. “The number of children and families receiving free food from Feed His Children is extraordinary. They are so deserving of our support and that of the public.”

Feed His Children began in 2013 at Jefferson School in Ottawa and is now serving 34 grade and high schools in Ottawa, Peru, Spring Valley, Mendota, Streator, Marseilles, La Salle and Seneca.

A total of 305 families are helped from the site in Ottawa, and another 316 receive care from its Peru facility. Up to 100 volunteers pack the grocery bags, and another team delivers them to the schools. All food is free to families, and bags also are available in the summer.

Feed His Children Director of Operations Samantha Laury said her goal is to help families end the cycle of poverty.

Monetary donations can be made to Feed His Children online at feedhischildren.org or at its Ottawa location at 1130 First Ave. Food donations also can be made at the Ottawa location.

The group operates micropantries in Ottawa, Morris and La Salle.

For information on Starved Rock Country Community Foundation community grants, go to srccf.org, call 815-252-2906, or stop into the office at 116 W. Lafayette St., Suite 2, Ottawa.