Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry photo
Livia Italian Eatery served a Garden Harvest Dinner to benefit the Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry Saturday, Aug. 17, at 834 North Highland Avenue in Aurora, the Marie Wilkinson Community Garden and West Side Food Pantry.
Guests enjoyed a five-course meal served outdoors al fresco under an elegant white canopy at sunset. Seasonal vegetables grown by community garden volunteers comprised 80% of the ingredients and was a showcase for the delicious benefits of growing a wide variety of healthy food on site.
Garden tours began at 6 p.m., with locally-crafted beverages and appetizers. Guests were the first to taste fresh deviled eggs produced by hens from Aurora’s first Urban Farm Chicken Coop pilot program! Student volunteers from East Aurora High School Junior ROTC helped with event set-up and greeted guests in the garden with appetizers. East High Culinary Arts students assisted Livia chef Mike Bomberger and chef Matt Schmuck with preparations in the pantry kitchen.
Live music was provided by guest artist Olivia Ports. The following restaurants and beverage producers generously contributed local goods:
• Livia Italian Eatery, Geneva;
• Fox Valley Winery, Oswego;
• Penrose Brewing Company, Geneva;
• Two Brothers Artisan Brewing, Warrenville;
• Werk Force Brewing, Plainfield;
• Calla Lily Tea Room, Aurora.
Aurora’s inaugural Garden Harvest Dinner was made possible with generous support from The Dunham Fund. The Dunham Fund is recognized for providing grant-funding for the Pantry’s food rescue van.
Organizers are grateful for gift in kind donations of time and talent from Food Pantry partners Charity Blooms, Fox Valley Garden Club, Association for Individual Development (AID), and East Aurora High School.
All proceeds benefit the Pantry’s Food Rescue operations. Volunteers visit 40 grocery stores each week, receive donations of fresh produce, deli, dairy, meats, and baked goods to nourish guests at the Pantry’s East Side and West Side food sharing locations. Food Rescue volunteers provide 80% of the food served annually to support families visiting the Pantry in need.
Aurora’s Community Gardeners established new garden plots in 2014 by breaking ground in a vacant City lot across from the Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry on Highland Avenue together with support from not-for-profit partners Making Kane County Fit for Kids and Rebuilding Together Aurora. The city government of Aurora provides land for use and delivers mulch to nourish the soil and control weeds. Aurora Fire Department staff members help fill water tanks.
Garden manager Rob Vaughn of Charity Blooms, a not for profit partner, organized the recent addition of new Urban Farm features such as Pollinator Hotels, and a Monarch Waystation butterfly garden. A coop was built to shelter egg laying hens in the summer of 2019, establishing Aurora’s first Urban Farm Chicken Coop pilot program. More than 100 volunteer groups from faith-based organizations and businesses have provided volunteer support, provided food security education and 2,000-pounds of nutrition to Pantry guests annually.
Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry was formed in 1957 by its namesake Marie Wilkinson, a lifetime social and civil rights activist who worked to relieve poverty, hunger, homelessness, joblessness, and injustice. Special neighborhood service times focus on nourishing students, seniors, veterans and persons challenged with disabilities, helping to raise the quality of life for the community as a whole. For more information please visit www.mariewilkinsonfoodpantry.org.
—Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry