Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB) acquires donated food and financial support from retailers, manufacturers, corporations, community resources, and individuals.

Northern Illinois Food Bank distributes the food to hungry people through a network of over 520 nonprofit food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, and other food assistance sites.

Northern Illinois Food Bank serves 13 northern Illinois counties - Boone, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Will, and Winnebago Counties - in a geographical area surrounding Chicago's Cook County.

Northern Illinois Food Bank is a member of Feeding America - The Nation's Food Bank Network.

The food bank is a non-profit, 501(c)(3), chartered by the State of Illinois to provide food to those in need.

Founded in May 1983 in Wheaton, IL., the food bank distributed 7,000 pounds of food in its first month. It moved to St. Charles in 1995. The Lake County Branch opened in 2001 and Hunger Connection became a branch of NIFB in 2005.