Julie Yurko will replace Pete Schaefer as president and CEO of Northern Illinois Food Bank, according to an article in the Kane County Chronicle.

Yurko is the food bank’s vice president of philanthropy and communications, according to its website.  She joined the Food Bank in 2009 and was named director of development in 2010. “She has worked primarily in the area of major gifts and campaigns at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Children’s Memorial Foundation and Brookfield Zoo,” the website said.

Schaefer, a former corporate vice president at McDonald’s Corporation, announced earlier this year that he would be stepping down. He was appointed president and CEO in February 2011, the food bank’s website said, and he had served on Northern Illinois Food Bank’s Board of Directors for the previous five years.

Based in Geneva, Northern Illinois Food Bank “leads the northern Illinois community in solving hunger by providing nutritious meals to those in need through innovative programs and partnerships. Since 1983, food manufacturers, local groceries, corporations, foundations, and individuals have come together to donate food and funds, and evaluate and repack food for distribution to 800 network partners serving more than 60,000 hungry neighbors each week across 13 counties,” its website says.