Northern Illinois Food Bank offers matching gift opportunity for Giving Tuesday

Northern Illinois Food Bank is joining in the national Giving Tuesday movement on Tuesday, Dec. 1 by offering an opportunity to double donations to help support its mission of solving hunger.

All donations to Northern Illinois Food Bank on Tuesday, Dec. 1 will be matched up to a total $30,000 by Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation and other anonymous donors. Donations can be made online at www.SolveHungerToday.org/GivingTuesday or by texting the word "Solve" to 91999.

The Food Bank will also be collecting food and funds from 5 to 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, at the Geneva Metra station as part of its Giving Tuesday campaign. Commuters and area residents are encouraged to take part by bringing monetary donations and non-food perishable items to drop-off locations at the station, located at 328 Crescent Place in Geneva.

"Every donation we receive throughout the year makes an impact in the lives of our hungry neighbors, but for this one day we're excited to help our generous donors maximize their donation through this Giving Tuesday matching gift opportunity," said Julie Yurko, Northern Illinois Food Bank president and CEO. "We are proud to say that we can stretch every $1 donated into $8 of food for neighbors in need, and on Giving Tuesday we'll be able to turn every $1 into $16 of food."

Recognized with a 4-Star rating from Charity Navigator for 12 consecutive years, Northern Illinois Food Bank provides nutritious food to more than 71,000 people each week through its network of 800 community food pantries and feeding programs across 13 counties. Ninety-seven percent of the Food Bank's resources fund programs that help feed hungry neighbors.

Annually coinciding with Thanksgiving and the kickoff of the holiday shopping season, Giving Tuesday harnesses the power of social media to create a national moment around the holidays dedicated to giving, similar to how Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become days that are synonymous with holiday shopping. Northern Illinois Food Bank is also participating in #ILGive, which has the goal of raising $6 million for nonprofit organizations in Illinois on Dec. 1 as part of Giving Tuesday.