Illinois Partners in Hope Grant-Funded Equipment Improvements
New Equipment for
Feeding the Community
Illinois Partners in Hope
Amount Awarded: $684,750 | Project Status: Completion Spring 2024
Illinois Partners in Hope utilized ARPA funding to purchase several essential items to enhance operations and expand their reach. With a new 26-foot box truck, a 52-foot refrigerated semi-trailer, and two new electric pallet jacks, they are now better-equipped to efficiently deliver vital food supplies to partner pantries throughout the county. The new refrigerated trailer plays a crucial role in receiving and distributing perishable goods effectively, and the electric pallet jacks have significantly streamlined the movement of heavy products within the warehouse and during deliveries. These valuable additions enable Illinois Partners in Hope to fulfill their mission of providing vital support to those in need.
Expanding to Meet the Need
According to Illinois Partners in Hope leadership, “this funding has been instrumental in driving our mission forward. Thanks to ARPA funding, our organization has successfully expanded its operations to meet the ever-growing needs of our community.”
The new box truck helps them reach 40,000 Will County residents each week. The refrigerated semi-trailer guarantees that they never have to turn a donation away. This helps strengthen partnerships with donors, as they can accept a larger variety of products. This will increase the amount of donated food they receive by more than 40 truckloads, an estimated 1 Million pounds of food per year.
“ARPA funding has been crucial to our continued success and growth. We have seen our numbers grown to over 2x the number of people served since the start of COVID-19. Unfortunately, our continued growth has shown that there is an ever growing need for the services we supply. This equipment will allow us to continue operations for years to come.” – President Keith Sharp
Key Improvements
26-Foot Box Truck
Allows us to serve over 40,000 Will County Residents each week
Refridgerated Semi Trailer
Allows us to accept and transport frozen and refrigerated food supplies
2 Electric Pallet Jacks
Allows us to effectively move heavy product at the warehouse and during deliveries