Beardstown couple launch food pantry

BEARDSTOWN, Ill. (WAND) — A Cass County town now has a new resource for residents.

The idea came from Beardstown native, Sarah Engelbrecht, who had students in her classroom complain they were hungry.

Her husband, Joe, shared with WAND News it started with them buying the student's snacks. This effort led to the Tiger Pantry and a backpack program on the weekends, which provided students food.

However, the Engelbrecht family saw there was a greater need in the community.

"We decided we needed to do more."

With community passion and support, the Engelbrecht's opened the Beardstown Food Pantry this year. It took most of 2022 to get it up and running, but it's already helped feed more than 100 families.

"Everyone in their community can make a difference. I mean, look what we've done here," Engelbrecht said.

The Beardstown Food Pantry is the only food pantry in the city. Randy Pherigo, a board member, said there is a Cass County Food Pantry, but it is only open once a month. This new pantry is open every Sunday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. It also provides a shopping experience for people needing food.

"We don't want anything in return, we just want to see people eat."

Pherigo shared that 75% of the Beardstown community is living below the poverty line. The Beardstown Pantry makes an effort to accommodate to Spanish and French-speaking community members.

The pantry opened last month. In the first week, it served 60 families and by the second week, that number doubled.

"When we give people this food, it can maybe help them with something else," said Engelbrecht. "Maybe they will be able to get out of a situation to get an apartment or house because we are starting to give them a hand up."

The Beardstown Pantry thanked the Walmart Feed America Program, Dot Foods, JBS Pork, and Cargill for supporting the pantry. To support the organization click here to learn more.