Every day, the eight food banks of Feeding Illinois work with a statewide network of food donors, pantries and soup kitchens to provide food to hungry people in Illinois. Delivering millions of pounds of food to every corner of our state requires coordination and commitment.
Feeding hungry people in Illinois also requires funding for every step of the process—from acquiring food, to food storage, to transportation for people in need. With modest budgets, food banks across Illinois successfully complete the complex process of delivering food to our children, families and seniors.
How we do it
1. Food is donated
Food and grocery products are donated and/or received from local food companies, government agencies, food drives, special purchases and from Feeding America.
2. Food is transported
Each food bank is responsible for picking up the food and returning it to their facility. Costs are significant. Food banks must maintain trucks and staff to get the food to the food bank.
3. Food Banks Store and Distribute Food
Once the food bank receives a shipment of food, it inspects for quality and sorts and re-packs the food and grocery products for distribution to member agencies throughout its service area. This includes refrigerated storage for perishable items like milk and eggs. Collectively, Feeding Illinois member food banks distributed 109 million pounds of food to agencies and outlets in 2009.
4. Community Partners
Member agencies and outlets, such as soup kitchens, shelters and food pantries, receive food from food banks and then provide food assistance to people in need. Feeding Illinois works with more than 2000 such community partners in Illinois.
5. Food Reaches Those in Need
Feeding Illinois feeds 1.4 million hungry people each year, including 605,000 children, and those numbers continue to grow as a result of the recent economic recession and high unemployment rates.