The Northern Illinois Food Bank was founded in 1983 in Wheaton, IL and distributed 7,000 lbs of food in its first month. In 1995 NIFB relocated its headquarters to a 147,000 square foot facility in St. Charles, IL that includes 83,000 cubic feet of freezer space and 30,000 cubic feet of cooler space. NIFB opened a Branch in Lake County in 2001, acquired the Hunger Connection in Rockford in 2005 as a Branch, and opened an office in Joliet that same year. NIFB employs a total of 45 full time and three part time employees, had over 50,000 hours of volunteer time donated this past year and distributed just over 22 million pounds of food through its network of 520 agency partners. The NIFB serves the following counties in northern Illinois - Boone , DuPage, DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Will and Winnebago. The population growth in this 13 county area since 1983 along with the 45 % increase in people living in poverty since 2000 has created more demand for NIFBs services each year. NIFB has been a member of Americas Second Harvest the Nations Food Bank Network since 1994.

NIFBs mission is to create a hunger-free northern Illinois by providing nutritious food to all those in need through our own efforts and those of our non-profit partners. NIFB distributes donated food from retailers, manufacturers and corporations to 520 non-profit food assistance sites in 13 northern Illinois counties. NIFB's vision is to create a hunger-free northern Illinois.

? Direct Delivery - NIFB is one of the few food banks in the country offering no cost delivery to our partner agencies, saving them money which they can then spend on food rather than transportation. Despite varying fuel and associated delivery costs we will continue to offer free deliveries to our partner agencies providing they meet minimum requirements. ? In FY 2008 NIFB?s Food Recovery Program picked up 3.3 million pounds of frozen meat and fresh produce from local retail stores bringing vital protein to the people we serve. We currently have 78 stores participating in this program which earned NIFB Feeding America?s 2007 Award for Model Food Sourcing Program of the Year. We have hosted corporate retailers, including Sam?s Club, Target and Wal-Mart to learn how they could donate perishable goods to feed hungry people in communities throughout the country. ? In the past year the Mobile Pantry made 215 visits bringing food including meat and produce directly to low-income people in need in areas under-served by traditional pantries. The Mobile Pantry distributes 10,000 pounds of food, including frozen meat to between 150-200 families in a two-hour period. ? The Youth Nutrition Program is currently serving over 2,760 children daily with after-school snacks, cold and hot suppers, summer lunches and food-filled backpacks. In Lake County for the 2008-09 school year NIFB is providing after-school snacks and suppers to 511 children (daily average) at 13 youth activity sites. In the Summer of 2008 NIFB provided a total of 21,390 lunches to 495 children (daily average) attending recreational or educational programs. ? In 2008 NIFB introduced a Backpack Program which gives children at risk of chronic hunger a backpack filled with non-perishable, child-friendly, easy to prepare nutritious food to take home on the weekend. The backpack contains enough food for three meals a day for two days for three children and NIFB is currently serving over 800 children in Stephenson, Winnebago, DuPage, DeKalb, Lake, Will and Kane counties. In Lake County 215 children are receiving the weekly backpacks. ? In 2009 NIFB introduced a Senior Food Box Program to provide 200 low-income seniors, who have difficulty accessing a local food pantry, with a monthly delivery of non-perishable food. In Lake County 40 low-income seniors are receiving this monthly box. ? The Holiday Meal Box Program provided 27,469 boxes for the 2008 Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday containing all the fixings for a traditional holiday meal for eight, including a 12-14 pound turkey, fruit, vegetables and dessert. ? NIFB was chosen to be the only Food Bank in America to pilot the Express Stamps Program with USDA and IDHS to provide an innovative way for people to access federal benefits for food. Since 2006 the Express Stamps has provided $414,166 in first time Food Stamp benefits for 1,549 food pantry client households and earned NIFB the Feeding America 2008 Innovative Advocacy Program of the Year Award. There are three food pantries in Lake County where clients can apply for Express Stamps.