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 America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network.

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 22 million pounds of food in FY07.

• 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 2007, over 2,300 children are receiving lunches each day. Children also receive food through NIFB’s after-school program sites throughout the NIFB service area and two evening meal programs hosted at sites in Rockford.

• The Food Rescue & 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.

  Nearly 2.5 million pounds of food was saved in fiscal year 2007.

• 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:
50 full-time and 3 part-time employees.  In 2008, volunteers donated over 55,000 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 2000 Statistics US Census (includes Census updates where available)
Population 3,831,133
Poverty 275,008—Poverty level for Counties served by Food Bank is 8.0%.

Family Income

• 2007 Poverty income for a family of four is $20,650 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 2006 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:

• 33% of the members of households served by Northern Illinois Food Bank are children under 18 years old.

• 7% of the members of households served by Northern Illinois Food Bank are children age 0 to 5 years.

• 6% are elderly – over 65 years old.

• Approximately 57% of clients are white; 27% are African American, 13% are Hispanic, and the remainder from other racial or ethnic groups.

• 38% of households include at least 1 employed adult

• 60.0% have incomes below the official federal poverty level

• 35% report choosing between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel.

• 30% had to choose between paying for food and paying for their rent or mortgage.

• 30% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care.

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:

• As of February 2006, the 6.0% aggregate unemployment rate in the 13 counties served by NIFB was still higher than the state average of 5.5%.

• 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.

• Population growth has brought with it the working poor that cannot keep pace with expenses of living in today’s modern suburban areas.

10/04/07 jwd