Go Orange to help find ways to fight hunger
By Susan Stark
Daily Herald Food editor
I'll be sporting orange on Thursday, Sept. 8, in honor of National Go Orange Day to shine a light on support for hunger relief. The folks at Northern Illinois Food Bank and more than 200 pantries across the country will Go Orange to spark ideas to ease this growing problem and to kick off Hunger Action Month.
More than 400,000 people face hunger in the 13 counties served by Northern Illinois Food Bank, a nonprofit organization based in Geneva. Every week 71,500 people - or one in seven - across northern Illinois visit Northern Illinois Food Bank's network of 800 food pantries and soup kitchens for groceries or a hot meal.
Additionally, the Food Bank distributes fresh produce, meat and other foods through programs such as mobile pantries, after-school snack and meal programs, and backpacks filled with food that children take home each Friday. And that number is up from last year.
What can you do? To generate awareness of the issue of hunger in our communities, you can Go Orange yourself on Sept. 8, of course, but there is much more we can do. Why not host a food or fund drive in your neighborhood, school or book group?
The food bank is working with communities across its service area to host and participate in events and initiatives throughout September. You can:
• Volunteer. Donate. Get Involved. Everyone has a role to play in ending hunger. Check out the full calendar of Hunger Action Month events at solvehungertoday.org. Illinois Food Bank is a member of Feeding America.
• Post your thoughts on what hunger means to you and pictures of you wearing orange on Northern Illinois Food Bank's Facebook page and tweet to @ILFoodBank using hashtag #GoOrange #ILHungerAction.
For more ways you can help, visit SolveHungerToday.org/HAM.
"Hunger affects our neighbors across the state," said Jennifer Nau, communications director at Northern Illinois Food Bank. "Nearly 80 percent of our neighbors have had to choose between paying for food and utilities in the last year, and our goal is to make sure no one goes hungry in northern Illinois."
Hunger Action Month is Feeding America's annual campaign which encourages the public to learn more about hunger and to get involved with food banks across the nation to help solve hunger in their local communities.
Last year, Northern Illinois Food Bank's Hunger Action Month pledge campaign raised nearly $6,000 worth of food for hungry neighbors, and 200 volunteers joined the Food Bank's Pack-A-Thon at its Northwest Center in Rockford and packed nearly 50,000 pounds of food in one day.
I'll be sporting orange on Thursday. Hunger is all around us. Let's get creative on ways to end it.
Bakers, time to preheat your ovens!
Do you have an original dessert recipe that friends ask you to bring when you come over? Do you have a fantastic family cookie recipe that has been handed down from your great-grandmother to you that melts in your mouth? If you do, then why not enter the Daily Herald Baking Challenge. The winner of our baking contest will go on to represent us at the 2016 America's Baking and Sweet Show in November for a chance to win some great prizes.
This year, the five recipe categories are Gingerbread Cookies, Banana Nut Bread, Frosted Chocolate Cupcakes, Lemon Bars and Vanilla Cheesecake with a fruit topping. Are you up for the challenge?
Once we've received your submission, the top three recipes in each category will compete at a Daily Herald event where we will select one winner from each category to go on to compete in November at America's Baking and Sweet show.
There, the overall winner of each category will win more than $500 in prizes. For more information and to enter visit: events.dailyherald.com/contests. The deadline to enter your dessert for the Daily Herald Baking Challenge is Oct. 6.
In November, America's Baking and Sweets Show takes you on a gourmet grand tour of the most delectable and hottest trends in the world of baking and beyond.
The show returns for its fourth year from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 11-13, at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel in Schaumburg.
The show draws crowds of amateurs, enthusiasts, connoisseurs and professionals, besides the loyal consumers of the baking and sweets industry. From across the world, for three days, America's Baking and Sweets Show will woo, entertain, and educate fans through competitions, celebrity demos, and hands-on classes at the venue.
For more information, visit www.americasbakingandsweetsshow.com.
• Contact Food Editor Susan Stark at sstark@dailyherald.com or (847) 427-4586. Be her friend on Facebook.com/Susan Stark Dailyherald or follow her on Twitter.