More families are turning to this food pantry. Here's how it serves them with dignity
Bloom Township Food Pantry serves 1,000-1,200 households a month after new SNAP work rules cut benefits for thousands of Illinoisans.
Food pantries and clothes closets: Add your listing free
Citizen Grit is building Cook County's first online and printable food pantry directory — organized by suburb, free to access and designed to reach people who need it most. If you operate a food pantry, kitchen, mobile distribution, micro-pantry, mutual aid food program or clothes closet in Cook
Tell us your story
You know things the headlines miss. Tell us what's happening in your world — your costs, your community, your concerns. We want to know your story and the ones of people you care about. Have a question? A problem? A tip? Let us know. We're listening. Tell
Where to find food, utility and other help in Cook County
More than 1.4 million county residents struggle to put food on the table, figures from the Greater Chicago Food Depository show. That's more than a quarter of the population. But help is available from agencies and neighborhood groups. Here are ways to find assistance if you need it.
Your budget is groaning. By how much?
Do you know exactly how much you're paying for essentials across Cook County? Put your cost knowledge to the test with our new quiz.
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Citizen Grit covers what's close to home in Cook County — your costs, your health, your housing, your neighborhood, your life. We tell the stories that make hardworking people smarter, healthier and heard. No spin. No agenda. Nothing to prove and no one to please.