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Friday, March 29, 2024

Rotary Club conversation connects with generous donation to Loaves & Fishes

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Above / Rocky Caylor, Ray Tirado, Mike Havala and Cary Gilkey met up today at Loaves & Fishes Community Services to give and receive.

Naperville resident Rocky Caylor remembers when Loaves & Fishes Community Services had a drop-off center off Fifth Avenue, back when the community food pantry was located not too far from his home just north of downtown Naperville.

What had escaped his busy life devoted to growing his business, Cadence Premier Logistics in Joliet, was that Loaves & Fishes also was growing to meet the needs of the community. In fact, Loaves & Fishes had grown into a spacious new facility more than seven years ago, now located at 1871 High Grove Lane.

Last month, the owner of Cadence Premier presented an enlightening program about his fleet of more than 300 new-model tractors and wide variety of trailers, an ever-evolving business “built by drivers” to meet the needs of the changing world at the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Naperville-Downtown (aka 4:44 Rotary). During a conversation with members, he connected with the needs of Loaves & Fishes Community Services.

Serving the community since 1984, Loaves & Fishes provides food and leadership in the community by uniting and mobilizing resources to empower people to be self-sufficient. The organization’s vision is to end hunger in the community.

PHOTO GALLERY / Loaves & Fishes

[shareprints gallery_id=”80670″ gallery_type=”squares” gallery_position=”pos_center” gallery_width=”width_100″ image_size=”small” image_padding=”0″ theme=”dark” image_hover=”false” lightbox_type=”slide” titles=”true” captions=”true” descriptions=”true” comments=”true” sharing=”true”]Long story short, Loaves & Fishes Vice President of Advancement Nancy Wiersum put Caylor in touch with Cary Gilkey who heads up operations with the news that on behalf of Rotary 4:44, Caylor wanted to make a contribution.

And Gilkey arranged today for Caylor and Cadence driver Ray Tirado to meet him at the Loaves & Fishes warehouse with a trailer containing 26 skids of nonperishable items.

According to Caylor, the skids included bottled water, canned food items, diapers, personal care items and cleaning supplies that have been collected by Cadence Premier Logistics in cooperation with the Illinois Trucking Foundation to donate to worthy causes.

Loaves & Fishes President and CEO Mike Havala welcomed Caylor and the delivery to the warehouse, noting cleaning supplies and diapers are items they typically have to purchase because folks usually don’t consider donating those types of necessary nonperishables.

After all the skids were unloaded, Caylor was invited to take a tour of Loaves & Fishes facility where he learned that the staff is supported by more than 1,500 volunteers, engaged at a variety of levels from daily operations to the board of directors.

Caylor was introduced to warehouse volunteers as they sorted through fresh, canned and boxed items for the market to ensure high-quality, healthful products for every client’s well-being.

“We appreciate the connection,” said Havala, who is a member of the Rotary Club of Naperville-Downtown. “The generous donation we received today contains so many essential items for families who are struggling, especially at this time of year. We are grateful to be part of such a compassionate community.”

“What a wonderful story of how Rotary connects people together in serving our community,” said Rotarian Naish Shah, immediate past president of the club. “This likely would not have happened if it were not for RCND. Thus, besides our grants there are other good things that happen due to our members and club presence in the area.”


FYI: The top ten items needed for the holidays at Loaves & Fishes are: Diapers Size 3, 4, or 5; Similac or Enfamil Baby Formula (powdered); Pasta sauces; Dry Pasta; Canned Food (Pineapple and Mandarin Oranges); Dried Fruit; Regular and Instant Oatmeal; Whole Grain Cereals; Low Salt Vegetables; and Grains and Brown Rice.

RELATED POST / Here’s a link to a story about Cadence from September 2017.   https://www.positivelynaperville.com/2017/09/15/youngster-helps-fill-truck-headed-toward-hurricane-ravaged-south/78025

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PN Editor
PN Editor
An editor is someone who prepares content for publishing. It entered English, the American Language, via French. Its modern sense for newspapers has been around since about 1800.

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