Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry

What Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry does

Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1981 that provides food assistance to food-insecure individuals and families across Aurora, Kane County, and Northern Illinois. It operates from an 18,000 sq. ft. facility at 1110 Jericho Road, Aurora, IL, distributing approximately 3.6 million pounds of food annually and serving roughly 1,500 families per week across multiple channels: an indoor client-choice market (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday; 300-430 families per day), a Saturday drive-up distribution, the Pantry2Go curbside pickup and home delivery program (600+ boxes monthly), and a Jefferson Middle School micro pantry established in 2023 that serves nearly 100 youth weekly. Complementary programs include the Community Clothing Closet, S.H.A.R.E. Closet, and A.C.C.E.S.S. Wednesdays for resource navigation, plus healthy-eating classes delivered with the University of Illinois Extension.

The organization runs on a lean operating model of 10 paid staff and 500+ volunteers, supplemented by a 24-partner food rescue program that recovers more than 50,000 pounds of food per month from local distributors and farmers, and a procurement relationship with the Northern Illinois Food Bank. These inputs produce a reported 7:1 leverage ratio, where every $10 donated yields approximately $70 of food value. Technology is intentionally light: a WordPress website, the Events Calendar plugin for distribution scheduling, and the Qgiv donation platform for online and monthly giving. There is no proprietary software, no AI/ML tooling, and no mobile application.

The financial model is donation- and grant-funded rather than revenue-generating. Income sources include individual donations (online and monthly), community and corporate giving, foundation grants (notably the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley), and government grants, including a $700,000 federal award via the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in April 2023 to provide hot meals in underserved neighborhoods. Services are provided at no cost to recipients, and the organization is governed by a 14-member volunteer board with representation from UPS, Old Second National Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Aurora University, and other regional institutions.

Name

Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry

Legal name

Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry

Website

https://aurorafoodpantry.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1981 that distributes 3.6 million pounds of food annually to 1,500 families per week across Aurora and Northern Illinois through a client-choice market, drive-up, curbside/delivery, and school-based channels, supported by 10 staff and 500+ volunteers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Assistance / Food Bank Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421), Community Food Services (624210)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Food & Nutrition Assistance Programs (BPAIAKAF)

Keywords

• Food pantry services
• Food assistance programs
• Hunger relief
• Food rescue operations
• Community clothing assistance

Headquarters

HQ city

Aurora

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the pantry operates entirely on donated funds and food from community donors, government grants, and foundation support. Donors contribute online, monthly, or through special events. Every $10 donated provides $70 worth of food.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that provides free nutritious food to individuals and families experiencing food insecurity in Aurora, Illinois and surrounding Northern Illinois communities. It runs a client-choice market distributing fresh produce, meat, dairy and shelf-stable items three days a week, supplemented by Saturday drive-up, Pantry2Go curbside/home delivery, a school-based micro pantry, a food rescue program, and emergency clothing assistance through the Community Clothing Closet and S.H.A.R.E. Closet.

Product overview

Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry operates as a single unified nonprofit service offering multiple food distribution and clothing assistance programs. The core offerings include Weekly Distributions (choice-market shopping), Pantry2Go (curbside/home delivery), Drive-up Distribution, Jefferson Middle School Micro Pantry, Food Rescue Program, and Community Clothing Closet. These programs work together to address food insecurity and clothing needs in Aurora, Illinois, serving 300-430 families per distribution day.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 99% client satisfaction rate with food received
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and historical.

• Northern Illinois Food BankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary food procurement partner. The pantry purchases food from Northern Illinois Food Bank as part of its food sourcing strategy, enabling access to bulk food supplies at reduced costs.
• 24 Local Food Distributors and FarmerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFood rescue program partnerships with 24 local food distributors and farmers who donate over 50,000 pounds of food each month, including fresh meat, dairy, baked goods, and produce.
• University of Illinois Extension ProgramsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides resources and classes on healthy eating aimed at reducing chronic, diet-driven diseases for pantry clients.
• Jefferson Middle SchoolsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSchool-based micro pantry location established in 2023 at Jefferson Middle School, providing after-school food access for students and families.
• Hesed HousehistoricalStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal homeless shelter with which the pantry shared offices for decades before moving to its current independent location in 2013.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Food for Greater Elgin: Elgin, IL-based community food pantry serving food-insecure residents in northern Kane County — directly overlapping Aurora Pantry's service region with comparable scale, volunteer-driven model, and client-choice distribution.
• People's Resource Center: DuPage County-based community organization providing food assistance alongside clothing and other social services — a near-identical service mix to Aurora Pantry (food + clothing + wraparound services), operating in the adjacent suburban Illinois geography.
• West Suburban Community Pantry: Community food pantry serving Western Cook and DuPage County suburbs with client-choice distribution — directly comparable in operating model to Aurora Pantry, including volunteer-driven distribution and multiple distribution channels.
• Loaves & Fishes Community Pantry: Naperville, IL community food pantry operating a client-choice distribution model serving DuPage County — directly comparable in service model, client-choice framework, and suburban Illinois geography, providing one-to-one peer benchmarking on scale and operations.

Broad incumbents

• Northern Illinois Food Bank: Duplicate intentionally removed.
• Greater Chicago Food Depository: Chicago-area food bank operating one of the largest food distribution networks in Illinois, distributing tens of millions of pounds annually — the broader regional incumbent whose funding competition and procurement relationships directly affect Aurora Pantry's supply and fundraising landscape.
• Feeding America: National network of food banks and the umbrella sector framework for community pantries and food banks across the U.S. — the broad incumbent that defines the sector's funding streams, brand recognition, and program standards relevant to every community pantry including Aurora's.
• Northern Illinois Food Bank: Regional food bank serving Northern Illinois — explicitly named as a primary procurement partner of Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry and the dominant wholesale food distributor to community pantries in the same service area, making it the most structurally comparable operator despite its larger scale.

Regional players

• Hesed House: Aurora-based homeless shelter and social services organization that historically shared offices with Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry for decades — geographically co-located and operationally adjacent (food service + clothing + housing support), making it the closest co-located regional peer.

Others

• Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Joliet: Regional social services provider including food pantries, emergency assistance, and immigration services across Joliet Diocese counties overlapping Aurora's service area — adjacent social services peer operating complementary rather than directly competing food programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aurorapantry
• Facebookfacebook.com/aurorafoodpantry
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aurora-area-interfaith-food-pantry
• Instagraminstagram.com/aurorapantry

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles22 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry