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Northern Illinois Food Bank Receives $20K Grant From Community Foundation

Geneva Sun
Sun-Times Media
For more information contact:
Sarah Slavenas
sslavenas@northernilfoodbank.org
Northern Illinois Food Bank
(Work) 630-443-6910, ext.139
(Cell) 815-277-6570

Food Bank Gets Support From Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley

$20,000 Donation Slated for New Building

(St. Charles IL) Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB) is pleased to announce that it has garnered the support of the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley in their efforts to raise funds for their new building with a donation of $20,000.

The $20,000 will be used to help fund the construction of a new Food Distribution and Community Nutrition Center in Geneva, Illinois. The current facility in St. Charles can no longer support the growth of the organization. Over the last eighteen months, demand has skyrocketed due to the sluggish economy and high unemployment. To counter this increased demand, the Food Bank will distribute over 35 million pounds this year. With the new facility, NIFB will have the capability to distribute 60 million pounds of food and beyond annually.

“The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley has indicated, through this donation, that they understand the challenges we face in feeding the spike in numbers of people requiring food assistance. They recognize the importance that this new building signifies in creating a safety net not only for the next few years, but for decades to come,” says NIFB CEO and President, H. Dennis Smith. “We would like to thank them for their commitment to joining us in our mission to create a hunger-free northern Illinois.” Smith added.

About Northern Illinois Food Bank
Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB) is an Illinois non-for-profit Corporation that provides food to all those in need through its 537 partner agencies in the following thirteen counties: Boone, DuPage, DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Will and Winnebago. NIFB acquires, gathers, handles, and distributes donated, government, and purchased food to more than 61,600 different people each week through local food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, youth activity centers and other food assistance sites. In Fiscal Year 2010 NIFB distributed over 35 million pounds of food and was named the 2010 Food Bank of the Year by Feeding America. The Food Bank has recently launched a Capital Campaign to build a new Food Distribution and Community Nutrition Center to enable them to handle more food more efficiently to meet the increasing demand.

Grant funds from the Community Foundation helped provide updated technology. These upgrades were transformative. By creating new time saving processes, it turned us into a more efficient organization.

Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry

Grantee

Education is important to us. We support causes that touch our lives and align with our values. We believe in paying it forward. We are here for a short time,, and it is the next generation that will take on what we leave behind.

Michelle Emanuel

Donor and Past Scholarship Recipient

Give your gift of time and see what it means to the people you impact. Helping others is what life is all about.

Neal Ormond

Donor & Fund Advisor

YEP has made me realize the importance of being involved in my community, and how to make a difference. There are a lot of problems in the world but if we can do everything that we can to help the world will become a better place. YEP has helped me realize this and encouraged me to help more people in the future.

Madi Porter

YEP Member

I am incredibly grateful for the generosity of the Zari Foundation Scholarship and the Community Foundation in supporting my education. I am majoring in mechanical engineering with a concentration in aerospace engineering at the Rose-Hulman Institue of Technology. In my spare time, I volunteer on campus, in the community and I’m also the principal violist in the symphony orchestra. I hope to make an impact on the next chapter of space exploration by eventually working at a groundbreaking aerospace company such as SpaceX or NASA.

Taytum Newell

Albert M. Zari Scholarship Recipient

Being a part of the Community Foundation scholarship committee is the highlight of my year. For many, a scholarship from the CFFRV is the reason they are able to continue reaching for their dreams and changing the future of our world. I hope each recipients knows just how inspirational they are to those of us who are lucky enough to read their stories.

Jessica Breugelmans

Scholarship Committee Member and Board Member

YEP was a great experience to have in high school. I became a more confident person, someone with a lot more perspective. Coming from a small school, YEP allowed me to branch out into my community, meet students from other schools, and learn about their backgrounds. I made some great friends and still keep in touch with them today.

Abby Vagnoni

YEP Alumni

Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley

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