Letters to the Editor

Letter: Thank You to All of Plainfield

Send letters to the editor to shannon.antinori@patch.com

Thank You.  Thank You.  Thank You.  As we volunteers work our way through the 11,000+ pounds of food that were collected on Saturday, May 11 (as part of the nationwide Letter Carriers Food Drive), we want to sincerely thank everyone who participated.   Huge thanks to Carol and all the other Letter Carriers who loaded tons of non-perishable food items into their postal vehicles and then worked to separate the heavier canned items from the lighter-weight boxed and bagged items.  Thanks also the other USPS employees who contributed to make the drive a success. And most of all, thanks to all the Plainfield residents who took the time to place items near their mail boxes on Saturday morning.  The Plainfield Area Interfaith Food Pantry has …

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Donate to Plainfield Food Pantries for National Canned Food Month

The Plainfield Interfaith Food Pantry and Green Harvest are always accepting donations.

February is National Canned Food Month and the Plainfield Interfaith Food Pantry and Green Harvest Food Pantry need donations of canned food year round to meet the needs of many hungry children and adults in the area. According to Green Harvest's website, it usually takes about four tons (8,000 pounds) of food per month to feed the pantry's clients; they are especially in need of non-perishable goods — especially peanut butter, Ramen noodles and corn — and hygiene products, particularly shampoo and soap, along with size 5 and 6 diapers. Click here for more about how to donate to Green Harvest or visit the website to make a monetary donation via paypal. Meanwhile, the Plainfield Interfaith Food Pantry, which operates out of the Plainfield …

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Plainfield Hauntings: Visit the Creatures of Creepside and Help Local Charities

Creepside Hauntings on Creekside Drive is open from dusk to 9 p.m. weekdays and dusk to 10 p.m. weekends now through Halloween.

You can get your fill of spooks and scares and help out a good cause this Halloween — if you’re brave enough to pay a visit to the hauntings at “Creepside.” For the fifth year, Plainfield resident Salvatore Perry is hosting “Creepside Hauntings” at his home at 15416 S. Creekside Dr. With help from neighborhood teens Anthony Fremarek, Alex Marco and Jay Gerber, Perry has created a nightmarish scene of ghosts and ghouls, and the community is invited to stop by and enjoy it — with just one catch. Those who wish to enter “Creepside Hauntings” are asked to bring nonperishable food donations to benefit the Plainfield Interfaith Food Pantry; guests can also help out some four-legged friends by donating pet food for Help Save Pets. Perry said he …

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Donate to the Plainfield Food Pantry at Patch’s Plainfield Fest Booth

We’ll be accepting items from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

As a proud sponsor of Plainfield Fest, Patch will be at our booth Saturday and Sunday to meet with readers and pass out free Patch goodies. But fest-goers who stop by our spot in front of Uptown Eatery & Tap can also give back to the community thanks to our partnership with the Plainfield Interfaith Food Pantry. The Patch tent will serve as a dropoff point for pantry donations from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Just stop by, drop off donations of canned goods, non-perishable foods, personal items and school supplies, and we’ll take care of the rest. Pat Cork, volunteer operations manager at the food pantry, said with a new school year just around the corner, school supplies are especially needed. “Our shelves are pretty empty” when …

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Food Pantry Profits from Cross Press Conference

Half of the groceries used as a prop during a GOP event on the one-year anniversary of the state income tax increase were donated to the Plainfield Interfaith pantry.

State Rep. Tom Cross, who used $1,000 worth of groceries at a press conference to demonstrate how much the average family paid in additional taxes over the last year, donated half of the food Thursday to the Plainfield Interfaith Food Pantry.  Cross (R-Oswego), House Republican leader, was joined by state Sen. Christine Radagno (R-Lemont), Senate Republican leader, and other GOP officials in Chicago at the media event on the one-year anniversary of the state income tax hike signed into law by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. For the average family of four, the increase added up to about $1,000, officials said. Cross said the state should have cut Medicaid and pension expenses before voting for the tax increase, according to an article in the …

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Do the Turkey Drop ... and Help a Family in Need During the Holidays

The Plainfield Moose Lodge will be collecting frozen turkeys from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, and is serving a free brunch for anyone who makes a donation.

Members of the Plainfield Moose Lodge and Plainfield’s Ford family are hoping to make Thanksgiving a little happier for those in need. The Moose Lodge, which collected 723 turkeys last year to help feed hungry families, is hoping to surpass that number this year in its 12th annual Turkey Drop on Saturday. “This is going to be another good year for us,” said Bob Provo, who along with Barb Thompson and the Ford family is helping organize the event. About 25 volunteers will be collecting frozen turkeys from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Plainfield Moose Lodge, 16310 S. Lincoln Highway. In exchange for a frozen turkey, the lodge will offer a free brunch. Cash donations will also be accepted that will go towards the purchase of additional …

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Donate Food and Have Your Library Fines Forgiven

During the first week of December, the library will be forgiving the fines of anyone who donates nonperishable food for Plainfield Interfaith Food Pantry.

If you have a stack of Plainfield Public Library books or other library items you haven't gotten around to returning, save yourself a few bucks and contribute something to the greater good by taking advantage of the annual food for fines week. From Dec. 4 to 11, the library will be writing off the debts you owe in exchange for non-perishable food products that will be donated to the Plainfield Interfaith Food Pantry. Bring in two to four items, and you'll have $5 in fines forgiven. Donate five or more items, and you'll save $10. If you want to see what the food pantry most needs this holiday season, check out http://www.plainfieldfoodpantry.org/home/donate before heading to the library to claim your amnesty benefit. For more information, …

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Blog: Gory Display's Fun, but for a Good Cause, Too

Cherie Kowalski Riley does her annual Halloween display in memory of her son, but also because it brings families together and it helps her collect food for a local pantry.

It literally takes guts to create a must-see Halloween display at 25013 Brigade Lane in Plainfield, what with nearly 100 monsters in varying positions and lots of bloody scenes. My favorite is the crash involving a Power Wheel vehicle and many corpses.  But the display that Cherie Kowalski Riley and her family designs each year does not go without its heartaches or a cause to support.   “I’ve been doing it for about five years now and it gets bigger every year,” Cherie said. It’s the appreciation of the families spending time together outside of her home that What keeps her motivated to bring the seasonal gore to the neighborhood is how much it's appreciated by the familes who spend the time outside her house looking it. She uses the …

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Blog: Want to Help Feed the Hungry? Write a Check

While it might go against the grain, writing a check for the local food pantry is the best way to help them get the biggest bang for their buck -- and help more people in the process.

With the economy in the tank and about one in five families needing some form of food supplements, food pantries across America are getting a lot of traffic. It is our time to help.    Many people, including my family, want to join in the crusade of feeding families in need but sometimes we just don’t know how. The simplest and most efficient way for anyone to help a food pantry is to write a check. I know what you are thinking! Don’t call, just send money, right? YES. Writing a check does go against the grain of the traditional food drives that we have all been a part of with various churches, schools and community sponsored events; but with the power of the pen, you could be helping more families than you realize.   Six reasons (of many…

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