Stories/Programs

Category: Food Banks

  1. Churches Struggle to Meet Need

    As unemployment climbs and economic hard times worsen for many in Champaign County, area churches are finding it difficult to keep up with the need. Shelley Smithson reports as part of a joint project with the UI College of Media and the News-Gazette about the impact of poverty in the area.
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  2. “Hunger in America”: A National and Local Perspective

    David Inge and listeners discuss the "Hunger in America" 2010 National Report from the group Feeding America. Guests include Ross Fraser, Media Relations Manager of Feeding America in Chicago; Andrea Rundell, Director of External and Agency Relations for the Eastern Illinois Food Bank in Urbana, and Donna Camp, Director of Wesley Evening Food Pantry in Urbana. (aired February 12, 2010)
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  3. Survey Finds Soaring Demand for Food Pantries in East Central Illinois

    “Explosive growth” is how the Eastern Illinois Food Bank describes a more than doubling of food recipients over the last four years. The food pantries in 14 counties supplied by the food bank report more than 100 thousand people received food from them last year. That’s 133 percent higher than the number of recipients in 2005, the last time the “Hunger in America” study was compiled. Jim Hires directs the Eastern Illinois Food Bank. He says his agency saw an identical increase between 2001 and 2005. Hires believes the economic downturn is partially to blame for the continued increase, but he also thinks his agency and member food pantries are doing a better job of finding those in need. “Our numbers were going up anyway because of our efforts to reach more people,” Hires said. “Even at our best effort we were still only reaching about half of the people who are in need. So we were taking steps. Couple that with the recession and all of a sudden it just ballooned almost out of control and really had us scrambling to meet the need.” Hires says a change in federal commodity policy has led to more surplus food going to the Eastern Illinois Food Bank, letting the agency use its money in creative ways to find more food.
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  4. 75,000 people in eastern Illinois live in poverty. What Should We Do About It?

    A rich discussion of the major systemic issues creating poverty and hunger--and what organizations in central Illinois can and should be doing to address them. With audience questions. Hosted by Dave Dickey of Illinois Public Media with Steve Anderson, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Donna Camp, Director, Wesley Evening Food Pantry; Senator Mike Frerichs, IL General Assembly, District 52 (Champaign and Vermilion Counties); Jennifer Hrycyna, Skadden Fellow and Staff Attorney, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law; Lyn Jones, CEO, United Way of Champaign County; Kate Maehr, President of the Board, Feeding Illinois and Executive Director, Greater Chicago Food Depository;Amy Terpstra, Senior Research Analyst, Social IMPACT Research Center (formerly Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty). The 2009 Hunger Symposium was sponsored by the Eastern Illinois Food Bank.
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  5. Looking at the Burden on Food Banks

    With the economy shaky and unemployment up, more people are turning to food pantries for help in getting enough to eat. In east-central Illinois, food pantries -- and the regional food bank that supplies them -- say more people are coming to them for help, some of them for the first time. Jim Meadows reports. (Story air date: Tuesday, August 25, 2009)
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  6. Helping Put Food on the Table: Food Banks, Food Pantries, Shelter, and Soup Kitchens in East Central

    Celeste Quinn and listeners talk with Jim Hires, Executive Director of the Eastern Illinois Food Bank, Scott Olthoff, Financial Counselor at Salt & Light Ministry, and Marie Brown, Salt & Light Ministry Volunteer and Recipient. (Story air date: Friday, August 21, 2009)
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