Wee CU Pantry for Kids Organizer Jerelle Leeks said he felt compelled to help others after requirements for SNAP benefits were changed at the beginning of the year.

URBANA, Ill. (WAND) — A pop-up food pantry is making its way through different communities, providing food and essentials to local families. The Wee CU Pantry for Kids aims to feed children across different communities.

Organizer Jerelle Leeks said he felt compelled to help others after requirements for SNAP benefits were changed at the beginning of the year. As a Case Manager at the Strides Shelter of Champaign County and a Life Coach at C-U at Home, Leeks said he had multiple clients who were scared about what the changes would mean for them. 

"Everybody is not in a position to get these types of things done, at least not immediately," he said. "Now you're in a situation where you need. And one thing the human body needs is to eat, point blank, period."

The Wee CU Pantry for Kids doesn't just provide food and essentials, it also provides shoes, clothes, coats and jackets, and toys and books for children.

To Leeks, the pantry is beyond filling a basic need; it's about healing. 

"To produce a better functioning adult in society, what if we just narrow down and trickle down the things that the children didn't get as kids that they might have needed?"

At their first pantry, Leeks served 232 people, including 125 children. 

If people need to get volunteer hours to be able to qualify for SNAP, Leeks said they can help out with the pop-up pantries.

Every month, the pop-up pantry will be in a new community. The next pop-up pantry will be in at 5 p.m. June 19 at Fountain Valley in Rantoul.

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