Smith leaves big shoes to fill at Northern Illinois Food Bank

The Northern Illinois Food Bank distributed food to 210 agencies in 12 counties just a dozen years ago, but a changing world and a struggling economy forced expansion to the point it now distributes to 665 agencies in 13 counties.

The food bank has also gone from feeding fewer than 70,000 people annually to a staggering 500,000 people.

Someone had to steer the ship in those waters. That someone is Dennis Smith, who will retire this week after 12½ years as executive director at the food bank, where he emphasized solid business practices to expand and organize the network.

Peter Schaefer, a former McDonald’s vice president and a member of the food bank’s board for five years, was hired as the new executive director. He started Feb. 11.

Smith recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Feeding Illinois, and was recognized for his leadership at the food bank’s donor appreciation event.

“It was the food bank that was named Food Bank of the Year in 2010,” Smith said. “I just had the great opportunity to lead the team.”

The Daily Herald asked Smith about overseeing a food bank during such a challenging time in America’s history.

Q. You have been involved in some facet of food communications or distribution for most of your life, it seems. What initially got you involved?

A: I worked as an account executive for an ad agency in Cleveland, Ohio, in the late 1970s and was assigned the Durkee Foods account. After several years, Durkee hired me to be the in-house advertising and marketing support manager, and in that role I began to learn how food products were developed, manufactured, marketed and distributed.

Q. When you left the corporate world, what was it about the Northern Illinois Food Bank that sparked your interest in August of 1998?

A: It was fate, plus weariness from traveling weekly from Illinois to New Jersey. Following early retirement from a food company based in Lisle, I continued as a communication consultant for its Lipton Foods unit located in New Jersey. I was having dinner with a colleague and shared my growing dislike for the weekly commute. He told me that the food bank was looking for an executive director and it would be a perfect match for my skills. I ... was hired, then started to find out how much I did not know about what a food bank really did.

Q. One of your goals was to expand the number of agencies and pantries in the NIFB network. Do you consider yourself a visionary having the network prepared for such an economic downturn?

A: I was simply putting good business practices in place and attempting to put the food bank in a position to meet the need. The principles of marketing food in the retail sector applied to the food bank — you needed distribution points near your customers and products they needed. Two of our strategic directives were to grow our network of agency partners and to make food easily accessible to them. Both challenged us to look at where our distribution points were, how we got food to them and what kind of food we provided. Recruiting more pantry locations became a priority.

Q. The expansion had to create more demands on the food bank staff. In which area was it most prevalent?

A: We knew that if we delivered food to the sites they would take more than if they picked it up themselves at the food bank. We had trucks, they had cars or minivans. Additionally, we recognized there would always be an uncertainty about what foods would be donated so we implemented a purchased food program in order to supplement our food supplies.

Q. What did you see as key factors in the growing need for an expanded food bank network?

A: Several factors drove our dramatic growth: The enormous need that followed the 9/11 tragedy in 2001; the economic downturn of mid-2000 and the recession of 2009. Each event caused NIFB to reach a new level in service to the needy and to provide food to an ever-growing population of people. Each time we grew, we never receded to the previous high.

Q. Are you satisfied with how the NIFB has been able to serve the communities during the current recession?

A: I am satisfied that NIFB has been able to continue to grow and to meet as much of the need as we have. However, I am not sure that NIFB or its agency partners have met all the need that has occurred during and because of the recession.

Q. What makes you think that? It seems hard to gauge.

A: We deliver more pounds of food to more people and we provide either more meals or access to meals, but we have seen so many new faces that I really don’t know if we are keeping pace with the true need in our communities — or if we are just growing rapidly because the growth of families out of work or families that do not have enough income to meet their needs has expanded so greatly.

There is no satisfaction in the reality that we have had to grow to the current level of service. I would rather be closing the food bank because there is no longer a need, rather than knowing we have to build an even larger, better-equipped facility in order to meet current need.

Q. Do you have any regrets, or goals not realized?A: I regret there are still hungry people in northern Illinois. I am embarrassed to think we rank so near the bottom nationally in providing school breakfasts to low-income youngsters. I am appalled by the number of kids living in poverty in our 13 counties #8212; a number that exceeds 100,000. I am proud of the fact that more people are becoming aware that a crisis is building with our kids, and we must improve nutritional standards and practices so we can get obesity and Type 2 diabetes challenged and hopefully controlled before the younger generation is a hopeless victim to these two maladies.Q. Do you see a future in which the current food distribution process will undergo a major change? A: I believe the current model of food banks working with food pantries, soup kitchens and other feeding sites will continue to be the most effective way to help people in need. However, I do feel strongly that there needs to be more investment at the federal, state and local government levels in providing funds for food and infrastructure in order to keep the system working.Q. In seeking that government support, how do you inform them of the challenges being faced?A: We are dealing with two challenges in meeting the needs of hungry people. First, to help someone who needs emergency food due to a disaster or a sudden change in a life situation. Second, to help those who are trapped in poverty and need ongoing assistance. The challenges require a food safety net to catch either victim. You can plan for the second challenge, but you need to be organized and reactive to the first. Q. How would you describe the staff at NIFB and its various network partners?A: I was fortunate when I joined NIFB to have a group of people dedicated to helping others. Over the years we have been able to increase and elevate the level of professionalism within the staff and still maintain a high commitment of service to those neighbors in need. Our agency network partners are dedicated to helping people in their communities. As I leave the food bank I know we have a very qualified and energetic new leader in our CEO Peter Schaefer. Q. Will you remain involved in any way with the network, or in some other food-related capacity? A: I will always work to help people in need of food. It is almost a trite comment to say that no one should go hungry in the world#146;s most bountiful land. Yet we have neighbors across America who are hungry and who will be hungry. I will be a strong advocate for better food assistance program particularly as they impact our youngsters and I will stay involved. Fate may also dictate my next level of involvement. Whatever comes my way, I will always be willing to help.