Get A Tax Deduction In Patch Holiday Food Drive In Kane County

KANE COUNTY, IL — The cumulative effect of 39 weeks of historic joblessness and business failures because of the coronavirus pandemic is as plain as the bare cupboards in millions of kitchens across America: As many as 50 million people, including about 62,000 people in Kane County, don’t have enough to eat.

You can help by giving to Feeding America in Patch’s Holiday Food Drive.

Contributions are tax-deductible, so if you give now, you’ll be able to include your donation in your 2020 tax return.

The food drive runs through Dec. 31. For every $1 you give, Feeding America is able to supply 10 meals.

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Many of the families experiencing food insecurity don’t qualify for federal nutrition programs, and they need to rely on their food banks and other hunger relief organizations to have enough to eat, according to Feeding America.

Patch and Feeding America teamed last summer to address the growing hunger crisis in America, connecting readers with the organization’s 200 member food banks that serve 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, and providing an easy way to donate money to help their neighbors.

Some of the places in Kane County that will benefit are:

• Northern Illinois Food Bank: 273 Dearborn Court, Geneva — 630-443-6910
• Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry: 834 N. Highland Ave., Aurora — 630-897-5431
• Fox Valley Hispanic SDA Pantry: 505 E. New York St., Aurora — 630-898-0410
• Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry: 1110 Jericho Road, Aurora — 630-897-2127
• Food for Greater Elgin: 1553 Commerce Dr., Elgin — 847-931-9330
• Between Friends Food Pantry: 52 Wheeler Road, Sugar Grove — 630-991-3138
• Holy Angels Pantry: 204 S. Russell Ave., Aurora — 630-897-2478
• Zion Evangelical Lutheran Soup Kettle: 330 S. Griswold, Elgin — 847-888-2882
• Community Crisis Center: 37 S. Geneva St., Elgin — 847-697-2380
• All Peoples Interfaith Food Pantry: 256 E. Chicago St., Elgin — 847-741-2329
• Salvation Army - Aurora: 437 E. Galena Boulevard, Aurora — 630-897-7265
• Salvation Army - St. Charles: 1710 S. 7th Ave., St. Charles — 630-377-2769
• St. Peter Food Pantry: 1891 Kaneville Road, Geneva — 630-232-0124
• Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry: 100 Flinn St., Batavia — 630-879-3784
• Shepherd's Heart Food Pantry: 2300 South St., Geneva — 630-232-7068
• South Elgin Food Pantry: 400 W. Spring St., South Elgin — 847-931-0563
• Two Rivers Head Start Aurora: 1661 Landmark Road, Aurora — 630-264-1444

Feeding America predicted last summer that 50 million people, including 17 million children, could face hunger by year’s end because of the pandemic.

To put that into perspective, about 35 million people in the United States struggled with hunger in 2019, according to the latest report on household food insecurity by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Households with children are the most vulnerable to food insecurity. Before the pandemic, more than 10 million children lived in food-insecure households.

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Feeding America projects the food insecurity rate in Kane COUNTY will rise to 11.6 percent in 2020, up from 7.1 percent in 2018.

The Northern Illinois Food Bank is Feeding America's partner in the Kane County area. The food bank can provide $8 worth of groceries for every $1 it receives in donations thanks to its partnerships with food manufacturers and retailers.

The need for food assistance has remained high throughout the first nine months of the coronavirus pandemic and is expected to grow as winter takes hold, with some families forced "to make tough choices" like paying for heat or buying groceries, said Liz Gartman, communications manager for the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

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The Northern Illinois Food Bank hosts about two dozen distribution events every week, while supplying pop-up markets and food pantries across 13 counties. In October, the organization distributed 9.7 million meals, or about 11.6 million pounds of food, to its network of more than 900 partners.

Feeding America says that 80 percent of its food banks — or 4 in 5 — are serving more people than they were at the same time last year. With the pandemic worsening during the holiday season, many people who never before worried about how they’d pay for a holiday meal are turning to food banks for the first time.

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From the beginning of the pandemic in March, Feeding America distributed 4.2 billion meals — enough to provide every U.S. resident with breakfast, lunch and dinner for just over four days.

In the first four months of the pandemic, 4 in 10 people were first-time visitors to food banks, according to Feeding America.

How To Support The Patch Holiday Food Drive

Patch has teamed with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2020, more than 50 million Americans will not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.