AdventHealth Bolingbrook has introduced a micro pantry outside its emergency room to help address food insecurity in the community. The pantry, available 24 hours a day, provides nonperishable food and essential items to approximately 200 patients and local residents each week.
Cecille Truver, director of imaging, patient transport and volunteer services at the hospital, emphasized the importance of this initiative. “When people leave the ER during the day or at night, sometimes they aren’t able to visit the grocery store,” she said.
Truver explained that her motivation for supporting the pantry comes from her personal background. She recalled watching her parents feed people experiencing homelessness in Chicagoland.
The micro pantry was recently renovated with help from community members. Truver and her husband worked with the Silmon family, who volunteered their time to build a new structure for the pantry. Mike Nunn, chief operating officer at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Bolingbrook, said: “This is a beautiful example of partnering with the community to extend our mission. This pantry is a blessing to many in need and a visible reminder that our mission doesn’t end at our doors.”
Support for maintaining and stocking the pantry comes from both AdventHealth staff and local donors. Different units within the hospital rotate responsibilities each week to keep it clean and supplied. “It’s heartwarming to see our community care for each other,” Truver said.
Rebecca Davis, clinical chaplain manager at the hospital, oversees operations of the micro pantry. She noted: “AdventHealth’s mission is to extend the healing ministry of Christ, who understood the interconnectedness of physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Supporting this work means caring for the whole person.”
Truver has been part of AdventHealth for 37 years and helped open AdventHealth Bolingbrook in 2004. Her husband now volunteers at both the facility and a local feeding program.
“This work is not just about health care — it’s about family, community and faith,” Truver said.
AdventHealth Orlando—located in Orlando, Florida—was founded in 1908 and serves as both a pediatric ward provider and training hospital under president Terry Shaw.
