Over 40 years ago, St. Mark Catholic Church on Bradley Ave. found a food pantry for parishioners who were deeply affected by recent downturns in the local economy.  After three years working out of a garage, the St. Mark volunteers joined friends a few blocks away at Westminster Presbyterian Church to create the WestMark Food Pantry in the basement of the Westminster Parish Hall and began serving a wider population.

Today, WestMark operates with over two dozen dedicated part-time volunteers, many are retirees, who use the church van and trucks to pick up food each week, unload the food, and stock the shelves, refrigerators and freezers. On Saturdays, bags of food are assembled for distribution to families on Monday mornings at our drive through.

Our primary food sources include Midwest Food Bank, Peoria Area Food Bank, Heart of Illinois Harvest, food drives, and donations through the two churches. In addition, we purchase basic food essentials from local grocery stores. WestMark now provides supplemental food for 100 families every week, which includes bags of groceries, frozen food, fresh produce, bread, eggs, and other staples. Each month we spend an average of $2,500 on groceries that aren't always available from the food banks, such as cereal, peanut butter, pasta and assorted canned goods. 

Due to increased food prices and a decrease in government food subsidy programs,
the pantry has experienced a near doubling in demand for the food we provide. 
Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Ralph Amen, 309-369-0487.

Contributions are welcome at:
WestMark Food Pantry
1420 W Moss Ave
Peoria IL 61606