Northern Illinois Food Bank needs more space

The Northern Illinois Food Bank is in the final planning stages of a $12 million construction project that would relocate the regional nonprofit's headquarters from St. Charles to Geneva, its chief executive said Friday.

Slated for completion sometime next year, the capital endeavor calls for the development of a 114,000-square-foot community nutrition and food distribution center on 11 acres along Averill Road. The current facility at 600 Industrial Drive in St. Charles would be sold.

H. Dennis Smith, the food bank's executive director and CEO, said the new facility would provide much-needed storage space for refrigerated and frozen goods and would generally enhance the charity's efforts as more families find themselves in need.

"If we could do it, it would be nice to say we're going out of business instead of building a new facility," Smith said. "(But) we're destined in this area to look at continued growth and need. It's a dynamic that is just not going away."

This year, distribution is expected to top some 23 million pounds of food across 13 northern Illinois counties, including DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry, compared to 6 million pounds in 2000. Smith said the figures reflect how poverty levels have risen -- even in some of the country's richest counties -- since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and subsequent economic fallout.

"(The attacks) kind of jump-started a lot of people being in need," Smith said. "Not as many people, I think, are aware of the impact of that event as we came to be."

While Smith said the food bank has managed to keep up with growing demands, its current warehouse is outdated and needs serious repairs. Its structural design also is not conducive to storing large amounts of refrigerated and frozen goods.

The existing headquarters -- though technically larger, at 147,00 square feet, than the proposed new facility -- can hold only 242 pallets of freezer goods because of varying ceiling heights; the new one would more than triple that capacity.

Smith said the new facility also would end the costly practice of storing overflow donations in refrigerated truck trailers that devour diesel fuel, currently going for about $4.70 a gallon.

"That's not a real good use of anybody's money," he said, "but we have to do it to keep the food. We've literally run out of space."

Other components of the new development are a nutrition center and kitchen areas that would house educational programs for food bank clients, community groups and schools. There also would be a "clean room," where volunteers could, for example, break down 50-pound bulk bags of rice and cereal into smaller portions, Smith said.

Funding for the construction project likely will come from a variety of sources, including individual and corporate donors, Smith said.

The food bank is preparing to launch a fundraising drive in coming weeks, though some financing is already in place, including a $380,000 development grant through Kane and DuPage counties.

"We'd like to have people getting involved and helping as we complete the final plans," Smith said. "This is a community initiative."

The food bank moved to St. Charles in 1995. Truckloads of food are distributed daily from the site to 520 satellite facilities across the food bank's coverage area. Headquarters were previously in Carol Stream and, before that, Wheaton.

Smith said the Geneva site, which is in an industrial zone between Kirk and Kautz roads, was chosen because of its central location within the food bank's service area. He added that, when complete, it could handle up to 60 million pounds of food a year.

"We need to be prepared to meet whatever the need is," Smith said.

For more information, call (630) 443-6910 or log onto www.northernilfoodbank.org.