What is donated here, stays here.
What is donated here, stays here.
What is donated here., stays here.
From Our Executive Director
The Rock River Valley Pantry (RRVP) continues to serve the community, providing emergency food to those in the community that would otherwise go hungry. To accomplish this:
- We continue to seek out and acquire the resources needed to serve our clients.
- We provide food that results in a balanced diet, enough for four days for each member of the receiving household. We allow our clients to use the Pantry twice each month.
- We use our current partnerships and always seek new partnerships to help us maintain the food supplies necessary to serve our clients.
- We develop and use the distribution systems necessary to maintain a safe environment for our clients, our staff, and our volunteers. COVID has had a major impact on our distribution methods, but we have made the changes necessary to assure the safety of our volunteers, staff, and clients. Entry to both locations is limited and requires wearing a mask and hand sanitizing.
Our community of donors deserves our thanks and every dollar truly makes a difference in our ability to accomplish our mission. In addition to the monetary donations that allow us to purchase needed food items we have a valued relationship with many of the grocery and specialty stores in this community. Daily, these stores set aside food items, all usable, that the Pantry rescues and passes on to our clients.
Likewise, the volunteers that support the Pantry deserve our thanks. They provide as much as 14,000 hours of essential labor every year, sorting donations and rescued foods, stocking shelves in our choice pantry, and assembling the foods that are distributed at our satellite pantry. They serve as escorts in our choice area and registrars in our intake lobby. They know well the hunger issues in our community and serve as advocating voices.
If you have questions about our operation you may call us, Monday through Friday, between 8:00am and 4:00pm at 815-965-2466. We’ll answer the phone.
Executive Director
Our History
The Rock River Valley Pantry was established as a non-profit in 1976 and was given 501c3 status in 1977. We started small, serving about 125 households a month from a downtown location with the help of a small number of volunteers. Those who needed the Pantry services could use them four times a year.
- Today the RRVP is the largest community-based food pantry in Northern Illinois, distributing needed food from two locations five days a week.
- We provide more than a million pounds of food each year to those in our community who would otherwise go hungry.
- About 125 volunteers help us achieve our mission each week.
- Thanks to the help of the Master Gardeners we have a 32-bed organic garden that provides more than a ton of fresh produce each year for our clients.
Our Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors consists of up to 25 volunteer members who meet monthly. As volunteers, they receive no compensation for serving, yet serve actively on the following committees: Finance, Fundraising, Client Services, Marketing and Nominating.
| Tiffany Bates | State of IL, DHS |
| Gabby Bauch | RSM US LLP |
| Jon Bauch | Martin Automatic |
| Ken Buss | Retired, YMCA of the USA |
| Dave Denowh | Vecima Networks Corp |
| Kira Devin | Prairie State Legal Services |
| Sean Grennan | Treasurer, Furst Group |
| Rick Holm | Retired, Woodward |
| Jenny Howell | 2nd Vice President, Furst Staffing |
| Colin Hurka | MC Products |
| Cindy Leib | UW Health |
| Fred Lierman | Retired, Technical Writer |
| Esther Lodge | Alignment Rockford |
| Lori Mack | JL Clark LLC |
| Larry Rowlett | IBEW Local 364 |
| Dorice Royce | President, R.N., Community Volunteer |
| Amy Sola | Associated Bank |
| Reggie Tillmon | Woodward Inc. |
| Lori Wallace | KMK Media |
| Kathy Walls | Retired, Boylon HS/US Army |
| Ron Welte | 1st Vice President, Retired, Com Ed |
