Here are some quick facts about the Northern Illinois Food Bank and its services to your community.

ORGANIZATION TYPE:
Non-profit, 501(c)(3), chartered by the State of Illinois to provide food to those in need. Member of Feeding America.

HEADQUARTERS:
600 Industrial Drive, St. Charles, IL 60174
(630) 443-6910 

BRANCHES:
Lake County Branch, 473 Keller Dr., Park City, IL 60085 
(847) 336-3663
Hunger Connection Branch, 320 S. Avon St., Rockford, IL  61102
(815) 961-7283
Joliet Office, 3033 W. Jefferson St., Ste. 210, Joliet, IL 60435 
(815) 846-1041 

VISION AND MISSION:
Northern Illinois Food Bank's vision is to create a hunger-free northern Illinois. Its mission is to provide nutritious food to all those in need through our own efforts and those of our nonprofit partners.

HOW WE WORK:

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

• NIFB distributes the food to hungry people through a network of nonprofit food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, and other food assistance sites.

• NIFB 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.

• NIFB is a member of America’s Second Harvest – 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, Ill., NIFB 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. An office in Joliet housing a permanent agency services representative was opened in Fall 2005.

FOOD DISTRIBUTION AND PROGRAMS:

• NIFB distributed 27.2 million pounds of food in FY09.

• Food is distributed to 520 food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, and other food assistance sites.

• NIFB’s Youth Nutrition Programs provide nutritious lunches during the summer to children who receive subsidized meals during the school year. During the summer 2009, over 3,000 children received meals each day. Children also receive food through NIFB’s after-school program sites, the BackPack Program, and two evening meal programs hosted at sites in Rockford.

• The Food Recovery Program picks up perishable, prepared, and shelf-stable food from retailers and delivers it the same day directly to agencies that serve meals to the hungry and also brings food back to NIFB for inspection, sorting, and distribution to all agency partners.

  Over 4.6 million pounds of food was saved in fiscal year 2009.

• The Mobile Pantry is a “traveling food pantry” that delivers meat, produce, and nonperishable food directly to clients at agency sites and other locations where low-income people need food assistance.

STAFF:
60 full-time and 3 part-time employees.  In 2009, volunteers donated over 60,500 hours.

FACILITY:
147,000 square feet with 140,000 square feet of usable warehouse space.  Facility has eleven truck docks, five rail docks, and three drive-in entrances.  It is situated on 10 acres of land.  Lake County Branch has 9,600 square feet of space.  Hunger Connection Branch has 23,000 square feet of space.

FREEZER:
84,000 cubic feet with 242 “roll-back” pallet slots of storage space.

COOLER:
38,000 cubic feet of open storage space.

PROCESSING/SORTING COMPLEX:
5,500 square feet of space divided into three compartments with mechanized conveyor system for handling, storing and processing salvage.

FLEET:
Seven tractors, six refrigerated straight trucks, two panel delivery trucks, one pick-up truck, and one ten-bay refrigerated mobile pantry.  Three 53’, one 48’ , three 45', and one 32’ refrigerated trailers; six 48’ dry trailers – five are used in exchange programs with major donors.

KEY STATISTICS:
Population
Year 2007 Statistics US Census (includes Census updates where available)
Population 3,929,094
Poverty 269,280—Poverty level for Counties served by Food Bank is 8.4%.

Family Income

• 2009 Poverty income for a family of four is $22,050 per year or below.  11.9% of Illinois population is at or below poverty. 

• Living Wage Calculator statistical report defines a livable wage as $44,851 for family of four in Illinois.  (Info available at http://www.livingwage.geog.psu.edu/)

Hunger in America 2010 Study
The statistical profile of local neighbors who visit Food Pantries, Soup Kitchens and Shelters in the area served by Northern Illinois Food Bank and its Agencies show these key characteristics:

• NIFB provides food for an estimated 502,400 different people annually.

• 43% of households include at least one employed adult.

• 52% are non-Hispanic White, 27% are non-Hispanic black, 15% are Hispanic, and the rest are from other racial or ethnic groups.

• 48% of the members of households served by NIFB are children under 18 years of age.

• 8% of the members of households are children age 0 to 5 years.

• 53% and 35% respectively of households with school-age children participate in federal school lunch and school breakfast programs

• 1% of households with school-age children participate in the summer food service program

One in Eleven people in Illinois is Food Insecure
U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecure people as those who do not have regular access to enough safe, nutritious food for an active and healthy life. These households have reduced quality and variety of meals, and may have irregular food intake.

Some causes behind Hunger in the suburbs
The causes behind the growth in need for Food Assistance are numerous, but these factors are major contributors:

• Population
  • Population 2000 – 3,420,293
  • Population 2007 – 3,942,253
  • Population Change – 15.3%
   

• Poverty
  • Poverty (All Ages – 2000) – 189,246
  • Poverty (All Ages - 2007) – 269,280
  o Increase in Poverty of 42%
  • Children in Poverty (2000) – 66,613
  • Children in Poverty (2007) – 95,603
  o Increase in Child Poverty of 44%
   

• Unemployment
  • Unemployment December 2000 – 75,823
  • Unemployment December 2009 – 235,328
  o Increase in number of unemployed – 210%
   

• As of December 2009, the 11.3% aggregate unemployment rate in the 13 counties served by NIFB was still higher than the national average of 9.7%.


 

• Increase in number of single parent households where income is not sufficient to support children properly.


 

• Elderly population is increasing due to longevity of life, and in some instances living longer that their resources.

2/5/10 sns