Companies partner to donate to Northern Illinois Food Bank

A truckload of canned garbanzo beans was donated to the Northern Illinois Food Bank that will be distributed to 800 food pantries and kitchens throughout Illinois.

The donation, from Jewel-Osco and its supplier Goode Foods, was marked by a brief ceremony Tuesday at the Jewel-Osco in Bensenville. The food will provide an estimated 35,000 meals.

Food bank President and CEO Julie Yurko thanked the companies.

"It is only because companies choose to get involved that we can do the work that we do," she said. "Having this food will not only fill their bellies, it will fill their bellies with nutritious food."

Yurko said such donations help with a food bank initiative that provides food boxes to about 600 seniors a month living in low income housing.

The donated truckload contained 19 pallets or 38,000 cans of garbanzo beans that will go to a warehouse in Geneva. Any of the 800 food sites can then order what is needed for pick up or delivery. The food bank provided 65.5 million meals to families during the past year.

Jewel-Osco is the biggest retail donator to the food bank. It donated 14 million pounds of food during the past year. It has donated food to the food bank for 30 years, according to Doug Cygan, president of Jewel-Osco.

The food bank serves 71,500 people annually, Yurko said. Despite the donations, it has met only 61 percent of its goal to eradicate hunger in the area, she said.