What began as a bag giveaway in the year 2000 to help people seeking food at Salem Lutheran Church in Sycamore is now a robust food pantry ministry supported by 30 volunteers serving 850 family units a year (impacting 16,458 individuals).  Coordinator Liz Ezell talked about the ever-increasing demand for food which helps about 5,000 visitors a year through their weekly  pantry operation.  The pantry offers shelf stable food items, perishable fresh foods, and foods from their commercial-quality refrigerators and freezers.  Ezell said they also offer extra items such as paper products, personal care goods, and books.  Besides food availability, Ezell said the pantry coordinates Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

 

Ezell went through a long list of resources for food offered by the pantry.  Key organizations are the Northern Illinois Food Bank, Jewel Foods of Sycamore, the Rooted for Good non-profit,  and the Sweet Life Garden Group non-profit (which grows fresh foods at an on-site garden).  Donations help fill in the gaps of food supplies that include support from Meijer, Hy-Vee, and Aldi food stores.  Prior to funding being discontinued, Ezell said they also drew on food from the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (a local farm to shelf operation that had federal subsidy dollars for support).  Hours for the food pantry are Tuesdays 9:00 - 11:45 AM and Wednesdays 3:30 – 6:00 PM.  More details are available from their church website at www.slcsycamore.org.

February 9, 1773 – The 9^th U. S. President, William Henry Harrison, is born in Berkeley, Virginia.  He was sworn into office on March 4, 1841, but died 32 days later from complications from a cold he caught during his inaugural ceremonies.

 

February 11, 1847 – Prolific inventor Thomas Edison is born in Milan, Ohio.  Throughout his lifetime he acquires over 1,200 patents.

 

February 12, 1809 – The 16^th President of the U. S., Abraham Lincoln, is born in a log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky.  By the time he was a young man his family had relocated to Illinois where he became a self-taught lawyer, then served in both the state General Assembly and U. S. Congress.  He became President in 1861, guided the Union through the Civil War, and abolished slavery.  He was assassinated just a few days after Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox.

 

February 13, 1923 – American test pilot Chuck Yeager, who was the first person to break the sound barrier, is born in Myra, West Virginia.

February 9, 1964 – With his now famous words, “Ladies and gentlemen…The Beatles”, TV host Ed Sullivan brought the British singing group to American television in a program viewed by what was then a record audience estimated at 73 million viewers.

 

February 11, 1929 – Italian dictator Benito Mussolini granted political independence to Vatican City and recognized the sovereignty of the Pope over the 110-acre site.

 

February 14, 1929 – The infamous St. Valentine’s Day massacre occurred in Chicago when seven members of the Bugs Moran gang were gunned down by five of Al Capone’s mobsters posing as police.

 

February 14, 1929 – Sir Alexander Fleming publicly announced his discovery of the mold by-product penicillin.  He accidentally unearthed one of the greatest advancements of modern medicine after leaving a plate of bacteria uncovered and mold that formed fell on his culture dish and killed the bacteria creating the first-known antibiotic.