Go Orange & Get Social for Hunger Action Month
To further its mission of helping bring awareness of hunger, Northern Illinois Food Bank is once again participating in and hosting several events and initiatives throughout September to celebrate Hunger Action Month - Feeding America's national hunger awareness month.
To launch the events, Go Orange & Get social - Thursday, Sept. 12, is National "Go Orange" Day. Wear orange to help bring awareness to and support for hunger relief, and remember to share on social! Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram, and include hashtags #GoOrange and #ILHungerAction in your posts.
Since 2008, Feeding America and its network of 200 food banks, like Northern Illinois Food Bank, has strived to educate the public about how they can get involved in helping solve hunger in their local communities.
"We serve more than half a million neighbors in our service area every year-neighbors who are making tough choices every day about whether to pay bills and other expenses, or put food on the table," said Jennifer Nau, Director of Communications at Northern Illinois Food Bank. "We believe that's a choice no one should have to make, so we look forward to coming together as a community each September to raise awareness and support our neighbors in need."
In 2019, Northern Illinois Food Bank distributed more than 69 million meals to people in need across its 13-county service area through programs such as its Mobile Pantry, Winnebago Community Market, Milk2MyPlate, After School, BackPack and other programs.
Check out some of the other ways you can support the Food Bank this Hunger Action Month, and sign up today. Our events are perfect for individuals, groups, and families - we welcome all volunteers ages 8 and older.
• Volunteer or attend an event - There are plenty of ways to get involved all month long, including Pack-A-Thons at all four of our centers: from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, at South Suburban Center in Joliet, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 20 at North Suburban Center in Park City, and from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Northwest Center in Rockford. A Pack-A-Thon was held Sept. 6 in Geneva. To sign up for a Pack-A-Thon volunteer shift, call (630) 443-6910, or visit SolveHungerToday/Pack.
• Donate or host an online food & fund drive - Fight hunger with just the click of a button, or with the help of your family and friends! Visit the Food Bank's Virtual Food & Fund Drive page here and help solve hunger in Northern Illinois - every $1 donated helps provide $8 worth of groceries.
• Pass the Plate - Restaurants across our 13 counties are partnering with the Food Bank to "pass the plate" to help solve hunger in Northern Illinois. They will be raising awareness and funds for our hungry neighbors in a variety of ways including special Pass the Plate menu options, discounts for donations made to the Food Bank, raffle tickets, fun events, and more.
Northern Illinois Food Bank, a member of Feeding America, is a non-profit organization that engages the community to solve hunger in Northern Illinois. Manufacturers, local groceries, corporations, foundations, and individuals come together to donate food and funds, and evaluate and repack food for distribution to more than 900 partner feeding programs - the food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and youth and senior feeding programs that serve more than half a million people every year. Find out how you can volunteer, donate or get involved at www.SolveHungerToday.org, or follow NIFB on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.