Lake County food bank needs more volunteers

Northern Illinois Food Bank is in immediate need of volunteers to continue assistance in feeding the hungry.

During the holiday months, NIFB saw a large influx of individual, family and corporate volunteerism. But in January, the food bank sees a drastic reduction in the number of volunteers scheduled, communications manager Sarah Slavenas said in a news release.

However, there is still more than 30 tons of meat every week that the food bank needs help processing for prompt distribution. Each week, NIFB picks up more than 60,000 pounds of frozen meats donated by area grocery stores through the Food Recovery Program.

This meat needs to be evaluated, sorted, relabeled and boxed before it can be distributed to area food pantries, soup kitchens and other food assistance sites, according to the release. Only with volunteers’ help can the food bank keep this supply of nutritious food moving safely through the network to people in need.

Weekly volunteer shifts are: 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays; 6 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays; and Saturday mornings. Saturday shifts are 9 to 11:30 a.m., except for the fourth Saturday, which runs from 9 to 11 a.m.

For all shifts other than the fourth Saturday, volunteers need to be at least 14 years old. The fourth Saturday is a youth shift so volunteers can be as young as 8.

At its Lake County Branch in Park City, NIFB can accommodate up to 40 volunteers at one time. It is a great way to give back to the community.

If your group has 15 or more people, shifts can also be scheduled Wednesday mornings or afternoons, Thursday afternoons and Friday mornings.

All volunteers need to sign up in advance and can contact Northern Illinois Food Bank’s main office at (630) 443-6910, or visit volunteer@northernilfoodbank.org for details or to schedule a volunteer shift.

Feeding America’s Food Bank of the Year, Northern Illinois Food Bank is a nonprofit organization that provides food to all those in need through its 665 partner agencies in 13 counties.

NIFB acquires, gathers, handles and distributes donated, government and purchased food to more than 61,000 people each week through local food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, youth activity centers and other food assistance sites.

In fiscal year 2010, NIFB distributed more than 35 million pounds of food. The food bank has launched a Capital Campaign to build a new food distribution and community nutrition center to enable them to handle more food more efficiently to meet increasing demand.