QUINN AWARDS $25,000 CAPACITY BUILDING GRANT TO THE ILLINOIS FOOD BANK ASSOCIATION TO FIGHT HUNGER THIS THANKSGIVING AND EVERY DAY IN ILLINOIS

CHICAGO -- Lt. Governor Pat Quinn awarded a $25,000 capacity building grant to the Illinois Food Bank Association (IFBA) today to remind citizens to fight hunger this Thanksgiving and every day of the year in Illinois. 

                                             

The Lt. Governor's office grant will be evenly divided among Illinois' eight food bank facilities and will increase the amount of food assistance provided to hungry residents across the state. The funded equipment includes forklifts, trucks, cargo vans, lift gates, and shelving and storage systems. This equipment will improve the acquisition, processing, storage and distribution of food.

 

            "Last year, these eight food banks were responsible for distributing 69 million pounds of food to more than 2,200 community agencies, soup kitchens, and shelters across Illinois," Quinn said. "Those standing in food lines are everyday people, senior citizens, the unemployed, the working poor, and single mothers and their children."

 

            Since 2004, the Lt. Governor's Office has awarded grants totaling $129,000 to enable the member food banks of the Illinois Food Bank Association to improve their food distribution across the state.

 

"The Illinois Food Bank Association is working harder than ever to ensure that the citizens of our state have food on the table, but feeding the hungry is not something we can do alone," said Pam Molitoris, President of the IFBA and Executive Director of the Central Illinois Food Bank.  "We are so grateful for the continued support of Lt. Governor Quinn in helping us reach out to our neighbors across Illinois."

 

            The number of people seeking food assistance has increased in urban, suburban, and rural communities around the state.  The Illinois Hunger Coalition estimates that one in six children go to bed hungry in Illinois.  Last year, more than 1.1 million individuals participated in the Illinois Food Stamp Program.

 

"With more than 60% of Illinois children qualifying for free and reduced price lunches and a million Illinois citizens on food stamps, the role of food banks has become even more crucial," said Quinn.

                      

            Illinois' eight food banks serve all counties in Illinois and are located in specific regions of the state: Central Illinois Food Bank (Springfield), Eastern Illinois Food Bank (Champaign-Urbana), Greater Chicago Food Depository (Chicago), Northern Illinois Food Bank (Rockford, St. Charles, and Lake County), Peoria Area Food Bank (Peoria), River Bend Food Bank (Moline), St. Louis Area Food Bank (St. Louis, Mo., serving southwest Illinois) and Tri-State Food bank (Evansville, Indiana, service southeast Illinois).