The Full Plate
F E E D I N G
O U R
H U N G R Y
N E I G H B O R S
WINTER 2012
In this issue
30,000
Holiday Memories
Food Bank will provide Holiday
Meal Boxes to hungry neighbors
The Capacity to
Do More
Kraft Foods Foundation makes grants available
®
F r o m
t h e
p r e s i d e n t
Winter 2012
2 / 3 A Holiday Tradition
T
here is a
tradition
with my
family started by
Great Grandma
Grace and now
being handed
down to our
next generation,
my children. It
is simple, but
meaningful to us.
We begin our Thanksgiving meal by toasting
the men and women who are serving our
country in the military overseas. Great
Grandma taught us to be thankful for their
service, and appreciate that we are having a
safe, family meal because of them.
I believe family traditions and sharing a
meal with the ones you love are part of what
make the holidays special.
At Northern Illinois Food Bank, our
tradition fits into a box, a holiday meal
box to be exact. The box contains a
turkey, potatoes, gravy and all the items
necessary to have a traditional meal. The
box is a symbol of making the holidays a
little brighter for a family gathering together
to enjoy a meal and good company. We
are hoping to provide over 30,000 family
memories this year through our meal box
distribution. A $30 donation to the program
will help make that memory for families.
The work doesn’t end there. We will see
record numbers of hungry neighbors over
the next few months. This means more
food coming through our doors and back
out to our network partners. Each year our
community of staff, donors, volunteers
and network partners are able to work
together to distribute what almost seems
like a holiday miracle. During November and
Spirit of giving
Dominick’s / ABC 7
Spirit of Giving Food Drive
November 11 – january 2
D
ominick’s and ABC 7 Chicago are
teaming up with Northern Illinois Food
Bank and Greater Chicago Food Depository
to collect food and funds at all Chicagoland
Dominick’s locations to benefit both food
banks and their network partners through
the Spirit of Giving Food Drive.
Store associates will be collecting
monetary donations at the checkout lanes,
and customers can purchase pre-packaged
bags of food for donation in collection bins
located at the front of each store.
On Tuesday, December 4, ABC 7
Chicago news anchors will be out in the
Chicagoland area. Your donation will
help provide holiday memories for our
hungry neighbors.
To find out the seven ways you can give to the Dominick’s/ABC 7 Spirit of Giving Food
Drive, log onto www.SolveHungerToday.org and www.ABC7Chicago.com
The F ull P l ate
December last year, we provided over 5.9
million meals to our hungry neighbors.
What our community has done, and
continues to do, make a difference. In the
spirit of the holiday, I want to thank you for
your generous donations, hard work
and dedication to make sure each family
has the chance to make a holiday
memory. This year, our family will add a
new tradition and toast to our wonderful
and caring community!
Sincerely,
Pete Schaefer, President and CEO
Bulk repack
Repacking Food
for Our Hungry
Neighbors
W
e’re on the phone with one of
our donors and they ask us if
we are willing to take multiple
totes of granola at 800 pounds
per tote. Our answer: no problem.
Our new Bulk Repack room, outfitted
with special equipment through a generous
donation from The Grainger Foundation,
allows us to accept donations of large
quantities of loose product, such as cereal,
pasta, beans, and rice, and repackage it into
smaller, individual - or family-sized portions.
The donations may come to the food bank
because of overruns or due to a nearing use-by
date. Many times the bulk product is merely a
component of the final product; for example,
granola to be packaged into cereal.
In the temperature-controlled room, 20
volunteers, wearing hairnets and aprons and
adhering to food safety standards, take bulk
product from a large container, scoop it into a
smaller bag, weigh it to the specified amount,
seal and label the bag, and pack the bags into
boxes for distribution to our network partners.
In the past, the food bank would have to
give such bulk donations to other food banks
that had the means to process such items.
Having the specially-equipped room gives us
the opportunity to provide more nutritious food
to our hungry neighbors.
Volunteers play a pivotal role in repacking food for our hungry neighbors. Help is most needed during our MondayFriday shifts. To get involved at one of our centers, log onto www.SolveHungerToday.org or call us at 630-443-6910.
www.SolveHungerToday.org
Box of Hope
E
ach day can be a struggle for
our neighbors in need. Bills pile
up, costs for basic items seem
to skyrocket and sometimes it
may seem like nothing will ever be the same
as it had been before. This feeling can be
especially stressful during the holidays.
Northern Illinois Food Bank’s Holiday
Meal Box program offers hope for our
hungry neighbors and the opportunity to
continue their traditional holiday festivities
by providing the family with everything they
need to create a holiday meal. The meal box
comes with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy,
yams, vegetables, fruit and dessert. This
year, the food bank and its network partners
plan to distribute more than 30,000 boxes.
4 / 5 The F ull P l ate
30,000 Holi
The program, supported by Hillshire
Brands, Jel Sert, Jewel-Osco and
Smuckers, and through the generosity of
our donors, runs through the holiday
season. A donation of just $30 provides
a meal for a family of eight, and the
opportunity to create a lifetime of memories.
Holiday Meal Boxes are distributed
through our network partners to families like
Paula’s. Paula, a South Elgin resident, is
unsure if a holiday meal is within her reach
this year.
For her husband, a union painter, work
has been unpredictable for the past three
years. The family, who has two teenage sons
who are working side jobs to pay their way
through community college, relies heavily on
Paula’s salary as an office administrator. “We
work really hard and want to stand on our
own two feet,” she said. “Sometimes having
spare money for something like a holiday
meal is not always within reach.”
Ironically, it was through her job at a
township senior center that Paula learned of
the food bank’s Holiday Meal Box program.
During one of the monthly seniors’ meetings
at the center last year, the group decided to
raise funds to help the township provide the
meal boxes to local families in need.
Last year, Paula and her family were one
of the families receiving the box.
The Holiday Meal Box program has grown
757% since the program’s inception in 1999
when 3,500 boxes were distributed.
iday Memories
Before the gravy is passed and
seconds are had on the turkey,
families tend to begin a holiday
meal with what they are thankful
for in their lives. To Jessica, her
Thanksgiving is no different from
others, thanks to her community.
Jessica, 24, has been working full-time
as a caregiver for the last four years to
contribute to the household of eight. After
three years of unemployment, Jessica’s
father recently found work. During those
three years, the unemployment and child
support he received covered some of
household needs, but not everything. Even
with Jessica’s full-time income, the family
doesn’t have enough to put food on their
table every night.
The household would scrounge together
what they had, roughly $100 at a time, and
make a monthly trip to the grocery store.
Even with the creativity her sister has with
making meals, the amount purchased never
lasted them long.
Since her father’s unemployment,
Jessica visits two local food pantries in her
surrounding community of Bartlett to assist
with their food needs.
“It [visiting the pantry] means dinner on
the table every weeknight and breakfast,
lunch and dinner on the weekends,” she
said. “It’s about not having to worry you
don’t have enough to eat every night.”
When it comes to the holidays, Jessica is
grateful that her family will share a traditional
holiday meal because of Northern Illinois
Food Bank’s Holiday Meal Box Program.
“Without the meal box, we would be
penny pinching to get everything we need
for the holiday,” she said. ““A holiday meal is
what brings us all together.”
As her family recalls their blessings this
Thanksgiving, they will remember the food
bank donors and network partners who
made her family’s holiday meal possible.
“A holiday meal
is what brings us
all
together.”
You can provide a family with a holiday meal by donating $30.
To donate, call 630-443-6910 or donate online at www.SolveHungerToday.org.
www.SolveHungerToday.org
Feeding more
The Capacity
to
Do More
W
est Suburban Food Pantry in Lisle knows there
are more hungry neighbors they could be serving,
but the newly hungry often don’t know where to
turn in their time of need. Having resources to
print and distribute a flier to areas of high-need
would help hungry neighbors know where they
could get help.
Our new Food Recovery initiative brings more fresh produce
donations to several food pantries, including St. Vincent DePaul
in Kankakee, but the pantry could use an additional refrigerator
to keep the produce fresh until distribution.
St. Bridget’s in Loves Park could use more storage space.
Shelving would help the pantry stock more food, and thus help
provide more for neighbors in need.
These are some of the challenges our network partners face
in the daily task of feeding our hungry neighbors.
Northern Illinois Food Bank was recently able to provide
funding for such capacity-building items to 77 of our network
partners through a generous grant from Kraft Foods Foundation.
The grant process, which was managed by the food bank,
encouraged network partners to submit a grant request
outlining the capacity challenge and opportunity, and funding
needed. Proposals were reviewed by three different food bank
committees before the final grants were announced.
In all, over $90,000 in grants were provided.
When corporations and foundations, such as Kraft
Foods Foundation, are looking to provide support to feeding
programs in a particular area – either throughout our 13-county
service area or to a specific county – granting through
Northern Illinois Food Bank provides them with the knowledge
that their donation will be utilized to feed hungry neighbors, and
the convenience of making one donation, rather than dozens
of smaller donations. Northern Illinois Food Bank follows
granting procedures consistent with the intent of the granting
organization and its funding objective, distributes the funding,
and provides a report back to the funder on the use
of the funds.
Network partners will have the chance again starting
in January to apply for additional funding from the
Agency Capacity Grant Program (funded by Kraft Foods
Foundation) to improve their capacity to distribute more
food to our hungry neighbors.
If you are interested in providing a grant opportunity for the food bank’s network partners, please contact Hester Bury at 630-443-6910.
6 / 7 The F ull P l ate
Convenient options
409,716 meals raised
Hunger
Scramble
Making Giving Easy
UNGE
E
R
C
S
To find out how you can get involved or set-up an online food drive,
contact Shannon Thompson at 630-443-6910.
H
N
orthern Illinois Food Bank is fortunate to have many companies sponsor food
drives for the food bank. In the past year, companies such as McDonald’s,
Discover Financial Services, The Pampered Chef, Cadence Health, Exelon and
CVS Caremark have helped provide thousands of meals for their hungry neighbors.
Physical food drives are a great way to unite employees in a local cause. Dropping off
non-perishable items in a food drive bin leaves the donor feeling good. What happens,
though, when employees, despite their best intentions, forget that can of soup yet again?
Now, through our online-food drive, companies can enhance their food drives by offering
employees a second way to participate. Our team can customize an online food drive for
your company, complete with a thermometer tracking your company’s progress to help
build your team’s spirit and participation in the food drive.
Participation is simple. Each company is provided a unique website where their
employees can “shop” for the foods the food bank needs most at that particular time. An
interactive shopper allows employees to place their purchases in their cart. At the checkout, the employee completes their participation by making an online donation for the items
they have selected to donate.
The online food drive also means more food for our hungry neighbors. Because of the
food bank’s purchasing power, every dollar donated equates to providing six meals to our
hungry neighbors.
Companies can set fundraising goals, and for larger companies and community
organizations, the organization can designate an administrator to track progress and
update participants on the success.
RA MBL
We had a record breaking
turnout for the 14th annual
Hunger Scramble Golf Outing
held September 21. The 148
registered golfers helped raise
$68,286, the equivalent of 409,716
meals, for our hungry neighbors.
Presenting Sponsor
th
ANNIVERSARY
®
Robbie Gould
19th Hole Sponsor
Kicking
Hunger
Northern Illinois Food Bank was excited to
partner with Chicago Bear’s Kicker Robbie
Gould and his public charity, The Goulden
Touch, for a food and fundraising initiative
in September to benefit the food bank’s
BackPack program. In support of Hunger
Action Month, Robbie, The Goulden Touch
and Humana asked Edward Hospital,
Birdie Sponsors
Rockford Health System, and DuPage
Medical Group, and students and faculty
at Neuqua Valley, Metea Valley and
Waubonsie Valley High Schools to join in
his “Kicking Hunger” initiative. In a two
short weeks, the organizations raised
food and funds that translated into 31,383
meals for our hungry neighbors!
www.SolveHungerToday.org
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Fox Valley, IL
PERMIT NO. 180
®
273 Dearborn Court Geneva, Illinois 60134
Upcoming Activities
NOVEMBER
Help Ryder Drive What Matters Food Drive
November 1 – 30
When you donate at the St. Charles and
Rockford Ryder locations, you’ll receive a
coupon for 25% off the rental of any truck for
one day through the end of November.
Locations: Ryder in St. Charles & Rockford
E&J Gallo & Jewel-Osco Promotion
November
A portion of proceeds from specific E&J Wines
will benefit the food bank.
Location: Jewel-Osco stores
Ultra Foods “Check Out Hunger”
November 19 – December 28
Visit one of Ultra Foods’ multiple locations,
donate at the register and help Northern
Illinois Food Bank!
Location: All Ultra Foods store locations
MillerCoors “Help Feed the Nation!”
November 1 – December 31
Miller Lite and Miller 64 will donate 15 cents of
every case sold, donating a minimum of $35,000
to Northern Illinois Food Bank!
Location: Wherever Miller products are sold
Dominick's/ABC7 Spirit of
Giving Food Drive
November 11 – January 2
Stop by your local Dominick’s and donate money
and food to help Northern Illinois Food Bank!
Location: All Dominick’s stores
Maple Leaf Bakery in-store
promotion with Jewel-Osco
November 30 – January 1, 2013
A portion of every loaf sold will benefit Northern
Illinois Food Bank.
Location: All Jewel-Osco stores
Radio Disney’s Festival of Giving
November 30
Join Radio Disney at the Hinsdale Christmas
Walk this year for family fun. Bring a nonperishable donation for the food bank.
Location: Hinsdale Christmas Walk
at the Chamber
22 East First Street, Hinsdale, IL
“Like” us on Facebook to find out the
latest happenings at the food bank.
Send comments/questions about articles in this
issue to [email protected]
See our complete calendar of events
at www.SolveHungerToday.org
2013 EVENTS:
JANUARY
Constellation Brands &
Jewel-Osco Promotion
January 1-14
A portion of proceeds from specific Constellation
Brand wines will benefit the food bank.
Location: West Suburban Center, Geneva
MAY
A Taste That Matters: A Culinary Event
May 9 (6– 9 p.m.)
Jewel-Osco serves as the event sponsor for
this second-year event which attracted more
than 700 people last year. Tickets are $200
for individuals and $2,000 per table of 10.
Sponsorships are available as well. For more
details on the event and how to sponsor, visit
www.SolveHungerToday.org in January 2013.
Location: Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace