It’s always a good time to volunteer at the food bank

The Northern Illinois Food Bank is celebrating a milestone.

It’s the 25th anniversary of the nonprofit’s Holiday Meal Box program. Volunteers at the food bank’s Geneva headquarters, and at its centers in Lake Forest, Joliet and Rockford, will evaluate, sort and pack 50,000 boxes of traditional holiday meal trimmings sufficient to feed a family of six to eight people.

The 14.9-pound meal boxes will be distributed in November and December to the food bank’s network of 900 food pantries, soup kitchens and feeding programs spanning 13 counties.

It’s noble work that puts the Northern Illinois Food Bank among five recipients of this year’s Daily Herald/Robert R. McCormick Foundation Neighbors in Need fundraising program.

In its fourth year, the McCormick Foundation will contribute 50 cents for every dollar readers donate to Neighbors in Need by visiting dailyherald.com/neighbors.

In 2023, the partnership awarded grants of more than $11,000 each to five charities that work with suburban residents facing critical issues linked to hunger, homelessness and health care inequity.

Hunger certainly is being addressed by volunteers working shifts at the Northern Illinois Food Bank during the holiday months.

Up to 95% of the two- to three-hour volunteer shifts currently are filled, said Shannon Thompson of West Chicago, the food bank’s director of volunteers.

“November is the giving time, it’s on top of everybody’s mind,” she said.

Volunteer numbers dip after this charitably inspired influx. Crunch time is January through March and during the summer months when volunteer shifts are filled only about 60% to 65% of the time.

The absence of snowbirds and vacationers takes a toll. Meanwhile, hunger never stops.

“We’re always looking to feed our neighbors. We’d love to have people supporting us on a more regular basis,” said Thompson, who has worked 23 years with the food bank.

As it is, about 20,000 volunteers in the four Northern Illinois Food Bank centers provide the working equivalent of 70 full-time employees. They work on the packing floor, deliver to food pantries, and perform office jobs.

Volunteers who have outside contact with pantries or the food bank’s “neighbors,” or recipients, must be 12 years and older, Thompson said.

Children as young as 8, with a chaperone, may help with sorting and packing. Those 16 years and older need no chaperone. There is no minimum commitment required.

“I think the program is excellent,” said Denise Benton, one of the food bank’s 570,000 persons served monthly on average.

Retired from her job processing government loans for LaSalle Bank in Elk Grove Village, she utilizes the food bank’s Senior Grocery Program set up at her home at the Wood Glen Senior Residences in West Chicago.

“I wish there were more programs like that, especially for seniors because it is so hard for us to get around,” Benton said.

That’s contingent on available workers, of course, such as Dave LaPalomento of Geneva.

He’s volunteered for a decade at the Geneva facility at 273 Dearborn Court, since he retired as vice president of global engine sales for Navistar in Lisle. LaPalomento is part of a consistent team of volunteers that for three years has sorted and repacked produce during morning shifts twice a week.

“During the holidays we have a huge need, and it’s great that companies and churches and organizations decide that they want to invest some time and support for our neighbors in need,” he said.

But when the holidays are over, those numbers dwindle, he added.

The more volunteers, the faster the food can be evaluated, sorted, and delivered.

LaPalomento, who has a 600-square-foot garden at home, is serious about this work. He also is one of three directors of the St. Peter Community Food Pantry in Geneva, where he’s seen a 20% increase in demand over the last four months.

Volunteering at the Northern Illinois Food Bank not only satisfies LaPalomento’s charitable urge, it has helped his social life.

“One of the side benefits, besides feeling the satisfaction of helping people in need, is I’ve made some good friend there,” he said. “I play golf with three guys I work with in sorting produce.

“There’s a lot of benefit of spending time at the food bank. There’s a lot of good people there.”

Northern Illinois Food Bank

Year founded: 1983

Number of people served: Provides 250,000 meals a day across 13 counties

How you can help: Volunteer, organize a food drive and donate

Additional information: solvehungertoday.org