On Tuesday, June 5th, NIFB came together with politicians, civic leaders, religious leaders, companies, hunger assistance organizations, universities, and the general public to recognize Hunger Awareness Day. Various events were nearly filled to capacity as the community united in one voice to state its support in the fight against hunger.

In addition to raising awareness on hunger, Kraft Foods recognized Jewel-Osco with its "Protein Partner of the Year" award for its donations of millions of pounds of meat to NIFB.  Also, NIFB had the pleasure of two Presidents from America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network joining these events:  Vicki Escarra, current President, at the Celebrating Community Nutrition event in Lake County and Bob Forney, past President, at the Hunger Symposium at Benedictine University.

During June, NIFB also put together Interfaith Services in Freeport, Rockford and Joliet with various leaders of faith coming together to show a united front in helping hungry neighbors.  Readings, music, and dance permeated the services and left no one in attendance unmoved.  Each service shared the same message - raising awareness about hunger in the community - and was spiritually uplifting. These events were unique in messengers and representation -  including inter-denominational Christian faiths, Hinduism, and/or the Baha'i, affirming their commitment, together, to feed hungry neighbors.

In addition to spreading awareness throughout the community, NIFB also sought to raise funds to help feed the hungry.  Hunger Helpers weekend was successful in both regards.  Volunteers from NIFB's agencies were stationed at 74 Jewel-Osco stores, Logli's Supermarkets, and Sullivan's Foods on June 1 and June 2 and raised over $74,000.  Even more impressive, thousands of people in the community learned about hunger in northern Illinois  and opened their hearts (and wallets) to help hungry neighbors.

Summer vacation is here and school-aged children all over are celebrating the warm weather and all the activities that they will be able to do.  Summer vacation allows kids to leave behind the trials of school for a few months and enjoy everything that summer has to offer.  But for tens of thousands of kids living in poverty in northern Illinois, summer means something different.  It means that they can no longer receive the free or reduced-priced breakfasts and lunches from the schools they attend.  It means that they do not have a reliable source of food for the summer months.  It means facing hunger every day.  Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB) is doing something about this with its Summer Food Service Program.

NIFB knows the importance of feeding children nutritious food to allow healthy development, both physically and mentally.  Andrea Lutz, Youth Nutrition Coordinator at NIFB, stated that by following USDA nutrition guidelines, "...each child receives the proper nutrition, which leads to healthy eating habits, fewer sick days, and healthy, active bodies."  Good eating habits keep minds sharp and bodies healthy as these kids grow into young adults.

It becomes quite obvious that these nutritious meals are so valuable to these kids, but don't take NIFB's words for it.  "Thank You" cards, like the one below, pour into NIFB each summer and show how important this food is to these kids.

Through hard work and determination, NIFB has increased daily participation in this program to more than 2300 kids compared to about 1700 last year.  And, NIFB anticipates serving over 100,000 lunches this summer as opposed to the more than 62,600 served last year.  With this added success comes even more challenges.  Andrea Lutz stated, "This year, our main obstacle is procuring the equipment and staff to send out twice as many lunches each day."  While NIFB has the will to grow this program each year and reach more hungry children, additional monetary support is needed from the community for this growth .  Make a difference today! Click here to learn more and contribute to a child's future. 

NIFB recently received $25,000 from the WGN Radio 720 Neediest Kids Fund, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. The WGN Radio Neediest Kids Fund was an important partner when NIFB started its Youth Nutrition Program in 1999 to provide lunches during the summer to low-income children and continues to be a leader in the fight against childhood hunger. NIFB operates the Summer Lunch Program and the After-School Nutrition Program to increase the amount of food provided to children who lack access to adequate nutritious food essential for developing healthy bodies and minds.