Local Communities Work to Solve Hunger

White Oak Library District continues to go orange in support of Hunger Action Month. Residents in the communities of Romeoville, Lockport, and Crest Hill are encouraged to continue donating food throughout the month of September in an effort to solve hunger in the community. Food can be dropped off during regular business hours at any White Oak Library branch:

· Romeoville Branch: 201 W. Normantown Rd. Romeoville, IL 60446

· Lockport Branch: 121 East Eighth St. Lockport, IL 60441

· Crest Hill Branch: 20670 Len Kubinski Dr. Crest Hill, IL 60403

Additionally, National Hunger Action Month and Northern Illinois Food Bank encourages the public to volunteer, donate and get involved in solving hunger in our communities. Throughout September, the public is encouraged to wear orange, host a conversation about hunger with neighbors, change social media profile photos to orange, or volunteer at one of Northern Illinois Food Bank’s three centers. Businesses are also encouraged to get involved by hosting a Dine Out for Hunger Night at a restaurant, organizing a food drive for the Food Bank or a local food pantry, holding a group volunteer session at the Food Bank, or lighting their buildings orange during September. All are encouraged to post thoughts about the issues of hunger in our community and photos of themselves wearing orange on Northern Illinois Food Bank’s Facebook page and tweet to @ILFoodBank using hashtag #HungerAction.

For a list of all of Northern Illinois Food Bank’s Hunger Action Month activities, information on volunteering or to donate, log onto www.SolveHungerToday.org/HAM.

Northern Illinois Food Bank provides nutritious food to 71,000 people each week through a network of 800 local food pantries and feeding programs across 13 counties. Each year, at least 70 million meals are skipped by hungry suburban northern Illinois residents simply because they do not have enough food for three meals each day. Last year, Northern Illinois Food Bank provided the equivalent of 50 million meals to hungry neighbors throughout its 13-county service area. The nonprofit recently launched a strategic plan with a goal of meeting that “meal gap” by increasing its food distribution to 75 million meals annually by 2020.