Kane County’s June Food Drive Helps Feed Hungry Neighbors
Kane County’s 1,300-plus employees are taking part in a food drive to benefit 29 area food pantries and help subsidize a mobile food pantry.
Food and monetary donations will be presented to the Northern Illinois Food Bank at 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 28, 2016, at around 3:30 p.m., just prior to the County Board’s Committee of the Whole meeting.
Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen put it this way in his memo to county employees:
“Regardless of how you participate, our contributions of food, money or time will help our neighbors and strengthen us.”
The food drive is a continuation of the “Holiday Helping Hands” program that raises awareness that hunger affects our Kane County communities every day of the year — not just during the holidays. During the past eight years, the donations from county employees have totaled $76,776 and about 18,000 pounds of food.
With every dollar donated, the food bank can provide six meals. Every bag of food equals 1.5 meals.
Although the program is geared toward Kane County employees, members of the public may participate from now through June 24. If you’re in the neighborhood and would like to drop off some items for the food drive, feel free. The county’s HR Department has put up boxes throughout those county buildings, where people can drop off food items.
Here are some food donation guidelines, as provided on the Feeding America website, but the “most needed items,” according to the Northern Illinois Food Bank, include the following. (And no glass jars, please.)
As part of the fun, the IT Department has put a “virtual food drive” up on the employee intranet, so that employees from any of the county buildings (and there are a lot of Kane County buildings, not just on the Government Center and Judicial Center campuses) and easily contribute.
MOST NEEDED ITEMS
- Peanut Butter Canned Tuna/Chicken
- Whole Grain Pasta and Rice Cereal
- Dried Beans Canned Fruits (in own juice)
- Canned Vegetables Reduced-Sodium Soup
- Pasta Sauce
On Aug. 4, 2016, county employees will volunteer, as the mobile food pantry comes to the Kane County Government Center in Geneva to feed an additional 300 families. County employees will handle the organization and help with setup, food distribution, carrying groceries to vehicles and cleanup.
SOURCE: Kane County Human Resources Department
Last year, Kane County raised $3,708 and three huge bins of food for Northern Illinois Food Bank.
