CROSS Services Makes Relationships a Priority at Their Food Shelf

Chad Lanners spends time welcoming shoppers to CROSS Services almost every weekday morning, handing out handshakes and smiles along with the numbers shoppers take to indicate when it’s their turn to shop the food shelf.

But Chad isn’t a volunteer, he’s the executive director.

“I believe it is about relationships,” says Chad. “Whether we're working with the customers, our volunteers, our staff team, or community partners, I believe it's important to really see where everybody's at and try to understand where they are coming from.”

Second Harvest Heartland partner CROSS Services has been helping individuals and families in the northwest suburbs for 48 years. The nonprofit organization addresses the basic needs of families who are navigating food insecurity by providing culturally appropriate, fresh food and meetings with family advocates who help neighbors access the programs and resources that help bring stability.

“We sit down individually and hear people's stories,” says Chad. “We work to help them not only get access to food but maybe provide some supplemental support systems that can possibly change their life.” 

A wide variety of people visit CROSS Services—in fact, individuals and families from 92 different zip codes visited the food shelf last year. The food shelf also works to communicate with families in their own languages by having bilingual staff and providing signage in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, and Russian. 

“We know it takes a lot to come through the doors the first time,” says Chief of Operations Pat Schwalbe. “To have somebody speak your own language and answer questions is amazing.”

CROSS Services has a wide variety of fresh produce available to pick from.

Food shelf visits at CROSS Services are up around 30% from last year, which is a rate of growth the food shelf has never experienced before. From price increases to SNAP benefit cuts, families are facing more challenges than ever, making the food shelf an indispensable resource for food.

“I always see a swell [in visits] when something happens. It shows up in the food shelf a few weeks later,” says Pat. “When you see a hike in gas prices, then we see that show up a few weeks later in how it affects somebody's pocketbook.”

Despite having more people visit the food shelf than ever, CROSS Services staff are doing their best to distribute food customers know and love. Every weekday, two full-time truck drivers pick up retail rescue food like produce, dairy, protein and shelf-stable items from local grocery stores. These are the same stores where their visitors shop, so they see all the brands that they know and can select those things that they're comfortable with. 

“We work hard on presenting our food like any other grocery store,” Chad says. “When you've got a clean and attractive facility with quality food, people feel good about it. They want to shop, and they want to share that food with their children.”