People’s Resource Center urges county to include major pantries in food-security planning; members question $2.5M Loaves and Fishes capital item

Jenny Fabian, CEO of People’s Resource Center, told the DuPage County Human Services Committee that the nonprofit’s operations have grown sharply and asked the county to include large pantry providers in planning for new food-security investments. “PRC engages 2,300 volunteers who serve across DuPage County … Each year, 25,000 residents rely on us for food, emergency services, job assistance, literacy programs, and technology access,” Fabian said during public comment.

Fabian described rising demand since the COVID-19 pandemic and during last November’s SNAP disruption, and noted that about 55% of the food PRC distributes comes from food rescued from grocery stores. She asked the committee to involve PRC in planning discussions so county investments “have the greatest possible impact on residents who are struggling across all the unique communities in the county.”

Committee members thanked Fabian and said they supported the county’s focus on hunger. Member LaPlante, who said she met with PRC recently, urged transparency in budgeting and a formalized funding process so local pantries can apply and plan. “We have to move in a spirit of full transparency always when we’re making budgetary decisions,” LaPlante said.

Later in the meeting members turned to a separate but related budget question: correspondence and budget documents that referred to an apparent $2.5 million capital item for Loaves and Fishes. Several members said the committee had not voted on such an award and objected to communications that implied the money had already been approved. One committee member said they were concerned that a Loaves and Fishes capital proposal “is supporting only 37% of their support to DuPage County residents” and that much of the benefit would accrue to the county’s west side rather than the eastern districts.

Chair Swartzy said the Loaves and Fishes item originated in the chair’s budget and has not yet come through this committee, and urged members to raise questions during the full county board review. “That specific budgeted item is not coming through this committee,” the chair said, noting the board will hold further debate and a vote.

What happens next: Committee members said they expect to continue the discussion at the county-board level and to press for clearer information about how any large capital investments would be distributed across DuPage County. The committee signaled continued priority for food-security funding but emphasized that large capital commitments require careful review and a transparent process.