Fundraiser focuses on providing food to Illinois veterans

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — More Illinois veterans will be receiving farm-fresh food as the result of a fundraiser organized by members of the VFW.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of Illinois and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Department of Illinois have selected Farm2Veteran as the recipient of their fundraising effort this year.

Rob Bailey, commander of VFW Department of Illinois, and Danielle Krull, president of VFW Auxiliary Department of Illinois, attended a Voices of Valor Series program organized by Farm2Veteran.

“We fell in love with what they do to feed veterans who are experiencing food insecurity and providing them with fresh food,” Krull said. “It is something that is near and dear to both of us.”

One example is the Otto Veterans Square Housing in Chicago Heights.

“It’s a lower-income housing option for our veterans,” Krull said. “It’s like a veterans’ village almost.”

“They have been working with the Farm2Veteran to get food into the facility so the residents don’t have to get on a bus to go to a grocery store,” she said.

The VFW Auxiliary in the 16th District donated a freezer to the veterans housing facility.

“So, now they can store food, as well, because the grocery store is not very close,” Krull said.

“We started in January of 2020 with 13 or so chickens and a couple of pigs,” said Michelle Keller, senior director of Farm2Veteran. “We have a small farm of 60 acres at Manhattan, Illinois.”

Originally, the farm supported a couple of local restaurants.

“Our founder had a vision to do something for the greater good,” Keller said.

“So, our farm manager, Mike; myself; and our founder, Kevin, sat around the table, and we decided we were going to give everything away,” she said. “Veterans are a worthy community, and there were not really any farm-fresh programs for veterans.”

Farm2Veteran started working with other veteran organizations that provide additional services and groups like Catholic Charities.

“Then we realized there was even more of a need, so we work with a coalition of farmers in the local community to provide things we don’t have like fruits and vegetables,” Keller said.

“If we don’t have cattle or hogs ready to go, we work with farmers to buy animals,” she said. “We pay those farmers fair market value for their animals because we want to support our local farmers, as well.”

Over the past six years, Farm2Veteran has provided over 600,000 meals.

“We were in nine states last year, but we decided this year we are going to focus solely on Illinois to make sure we are not spread too thin,” Keller said. “We want to give quality food at a greater quantity than just sporadic donations here and there.”

Now, the farm has three chicken coops with close to 600 chickens.

“I have five head of cattle that will be leaving in about three weeks because we don’t keep cattle over winter,” Keller said. “We just took 10 hogs’ worth of meat to various organizations last week.”

In addition to fresh food, she said, Farm2Veteran aims to make sure veterans get the additional services they need by working with many organizations.

“We don’t want the veterans to just come and grab some food and be on their way,” she said. “We want them to get some healthy food and get help whether it is mental health, signing up for VA benefits or talking with other veterans about what is going on in their lives.”

Farm2Veteran is funded through donations and a few small grants.

“Our founder, Kevin, self-funded this program for the first three and a half years because he wanted to make sure it was viable before we asked for a dime,” Keller said.

“We have a couple of other large donors that help us, but most of the funds come from the community,” she explained.

“We make it happen one way or another, and the goal is to help veterans in any way we can,” she said. “We run a small operation with hopefully a big impact by getting as many meals in the hands of our veterans that we possibly can.”

Some VFW posts and auxiliaries have already held events for the statewide fundraising effort.

“They have done different food nights like fish fires or pork chop dinners,” Krull said. “Posts with strong kitchens are extremely successful in their dinner fundraisers.”

One of the posts located in the Chicagoland area did a Bears-Packers Party on the day the football teams competed.

“We are seeing a lot of collaboration in fundraisers between auxiliaries and their posts,” Krull said.

A joint fundraiser event with the VFW and VFW Auxiliary is planned for February.

“It will be at our Council of Administration that coincides with our Voice of Democracy, which is our scholarship program for kids,” Krull said.

The VFW fundraiser will conclude in June, when a check will be presented to Farm2Veteran during the department convention in Springfield.

“The goal is for the VFW and the auxiliary to both raise $10,000,” Krull said. “Right now, our total is around $7,500, so we are doing very well considering we are still in the early part of fundraising.”

“This is what we are here for,” she noted. “We were founded on taking care of each other, so it is really important to further that mission.”

“People can donate to any of their local posts or auxiliary or they can send their donation to the VFW headquarters in Springfield,” she said. “Make sure the check says Farm2Veteran, so they know where to allocate the money.”

Donations to support the VFW and VFW Auxiliary fundraiser can be sent to: VFW Department of Illinois, 3300 Constitution Drive, Springfield, IL 62711. For more information, call 217-529-6688.

To learn more about Farm2Veteran, go to farm2veteran.com or call 815-940-3276.