Lazarus House recently was awarded a $1,000 grant from the St. Charles Olive Garden Restaurant, through its parent company Darden Restaurants, according to a release. The grant is intended to help finance the downtown emergency shelter’s food service.

“We were able to purchase commercial grade food-warming equipment with this grant,” Lazarus House Executive Director Liz Eakins said. “We served an estimated 66,000 meals last fiscal year and it is very comforting to have more reliable equipment to keep food at a safe temperature.”

“We are grateful to Darden Restaurants for this gift, which also helped pay for some other food service costs, and for their donations of food over the years and their gift of volunteer service,” Eakins added. “The gifts from our community continue to pour out and bless our work.”

Lazarus House, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, serves people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and connected to mid-Kane County. Its goal is to give people a “hand up” so they can rebuild their lives. In its last fiscal year, 312 people received services at Lazarus House’s shelter and 87 households were assisted through its rental-assistance programs.