Eight SUVs and vans delivered food to Partners for Our Community (POC), Saturday afternoon, Dec. 19. The hundreds of diapers, bags of rice, mac & cheese, and other foods was collected at a  Drive-By Food Drive at Hamilton Sports Field, organized by Democrats for Palatine Township. POC, on Saturday morning, served 209 families at its weekly food pantry--a 700 percent increase in families since the start of the pandemic. The food pantry at POC is open every Saturday to families in need. In contrast, the food pantry at Palatine Township, which is run by a Republican Board, is open only by appointment, once a month, on weekdays, and only to families who had been served pre-pandemic. POC is located at 1585 N. Rand Road in Palatine. Democrats for Palatine Township have seven people running for the Township Board in the April 6 election. Melissa Ortega is running for Township Supervisor; Tracy Boland is running for Township Clerk; Matt Flamm is running for Highway Commissioner; and the four candidates for Trustee are Thakar Basati, Megan Gawlik, Nathaniel Groh, and Deanna Santman.