FISH of Joliet marks 27 years of service

By Scott Deininger
SPECIAL TO THE HERALD NEWS

JOLIET — Like the St. John's Food Pantry, FISH of Joliet has been providing food for underprivileged families for years.

FISH began in England many years ago and arrived in America in 1954. The Joliet Chapter was started by Richard and Lois Oestry in 1976.

The FISH name is derived from the Greek symbol used by Christians during pagan persecutions centuries ago. Wherever the FISH symbol was located, that signified a friendly place to find food and shelter for Christians.

"Many people experience hard times and don't know where to turn," said 83-year-old Minola Sturm, one of FISH's oldest volunteers. "Until recently, if a person called Crisis Line in need of food, Crisis Line would call a FISH volunteer to provide food."

It no longer happens that way.

When Lois Oestry died in February of last year, Dora Yuhas, 52, became coordinator. The organization decided that food would no longer be provided directly. The main reason for this was that many of the volunteers were unable to carry the bags of food up stairs.

Instead, gift certificates for Cub Foods, Aldi, and Certified grocery stores were issued. This allows families to buy the specific food they need while it also eliminates the strain on the elderly volunteers.

"There's no waiting. If people need food today, they get food today," said Sturm, a member of St. Joseph's Church of Manhattan. "We help people at the grass roots where they really need it most."

FISH fed more than 35 families between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year and is available seven days a week. Because FISH has no operations offices, volunteers meet the people at a neutral site for the safety of both parties.

The gift certificates can only be used for food and are given on the basis of the number of people in a family. A single person can receive $20 while the maximum allotted is $50 per family.

Each family must live in Will County and can be helped only once a month. With increased donations, the amounts given to families would rise, as would the frequency of the help.

FISH receives a $6,500 annual Federal Emergency Management Agency grant, which makes up about 80 percent of the money for gift certificates. Monetary donations and money generated from tag days and a garage sale provide the rest of the money.

"We were having rough times at home some years ago," said Yuhas, whose own family looked to FISH for help. "Food was hard to come by after my husband's back surgery. We turned to FISH for support and they helped us out tremendously. The only way to truly repay FISH was to pass its service on to others.

"People need to be aware that there are avenues of help out there," said Yuhas, a member of Maple Lawn Christian Church. "It can be embarrassing to ask for food but FISH aides in alleviating the stress. It's a very rewarding feeling. To know that we can help those people who are enduring the same struggles as my family had."

The FISH of Joliet volunteers number about 25. The volunteer ages range from the mid-20s to the mid-80s but the majority of them are over 50.

"We're hoping that the Joliet community can reach out and donate their money and time to help make FISH more known and able to better help our community," said Sturm, who began with FISH in 1977.

"Having more donations and volunteers would ultimately increase the money given to families."

Other local FISH chapters are in New Lenox and Lockport. If you have any questions about donations or volunteering for FISH of Joliet, call the Crisis Line at (815) 722-3344.

01/12/03