SCARCE and Partners Give Back with Thanksgiving Meal Distribution

Since SCARCE’s Reuse Center was first founded, we’ve had a dual environmental and humanitarian mission. This November, we partnered with the DuPage County Sheriff and Electri-Flex Company to provide Thanksgiving meals to our struggling community members in DuPage County. After our successful partnership in June on the “It Takes a Village” campaign, we were top of mind when Sheriff Mendrick was contacted by Electri-Flex Company of Roselle to distribute 1,000 Thanksgiving meals.

SCARCE executive Director Kay McKeen jumped at the chance. McKeen, along with COO Bev Jaszczurowski and interns Olivia Ryan and Audrey Kamal, set about coordinating meal kits and reaching out to local organizations to receive and distribute meals. Thanks to SCARCE’s connections through our Reuse Center, we were able to connect many underserved families with Thanksgiving meal kits.

The quantity of food donated by local businesses, Electri-Flex employees, and community members was outstanding. A freezer truck was required to house 1,000 frozen turkeys. Other donations include cans of corn, cranberries, boxes of stuffing, broiler pans, green beans, chili, peas, black beans, kidney beans, tomatoes, rice, gravy, potatoes, macaroni, soup, yams, and more. SCARCE and the DuPage County Sheriff’s SWAP teams sorted, boxed, and distributed these 1,000, ready-to-cook Thanksgiving Day meals to the community in the days and weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving.

Several organizations, including food pantries in Bloomingdale, Addison and Wayne Township, as well as municipal organizations in Roselle and Lisle received meal kits. A large portion of the meals were distributed by Sheriff’s Office personnel as part of their Meals for Seniors event they host with the DuPage Senior Citizens Council.

“We and SCARCE are here to serve our community and sometimes that comes in the form of providing a little comfort during a stressful time,” said Undersheriff Edmond Moore. “We’re grateful for the community relationships we’ve built that allow us to make it happen.”

“We are so happy to be able to help our community, especially during these challenging times”, said SCARCE Executive Director Kay McKeen. “Since we started, our goal has been to serve people and help our planet. We’re glad to be a part of this effort.”