Chicago, Ill., January 3, 2017 – Feeding Illinois, the state association of food banks serving all 102 counties across Illinois, has announced the appointment of Matthew Coatar as its new Executive Director. He will assume responsibilities on January 3, 2017. Feeding Illinois coordinates and supports the efforts of member food banks serving Illinois, enabling them to better provide a healthy and adequate food supply to those in need.
Coatar brings a wealth of experience to the organization and has been directly involved with hunger relief on a national level with Feeding America, where he served for more than ten years in the arenas of compliance and capability development, as well as special programs. Past duties included strategic planning, budgeting, capability management, development, fundraising and lobbying. Most recently, Coatar was involved with an organization that provided customer support for an enterprise technology solution dedicated to food banks where he developed relationships with more than 100 organizations across the United States to gain perspective on best practices for operations, fundraising and data management.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Feeding Illinois,” says Coatar. “Nearly 12.9 percent of residents in the state* struggle with hunger. Most of them are working families, children and the elderly. As Executive Director, I plan to use my experience from the food banking industry to establish best practices and improve processes across the state through our member agencies, community, corporate and government partners. Together, we can solve hunger in Illinois.”
Julie Yurko, Feeding Illinois Board Chair and Northern Illinois Food Bank President and CEO adds, “Matt is a great addition to the organization. We look forward to him applying the knowledge he’s gained throughout his career to meet the needs of our hungry neighbors across the state.”
To learn more about Feeding Illinois visit www.feedingillinois.org.
Feeding Illinois
Feeding Illinois is the state food bank association, which works with eight food banks that serve every county in Illinois through a vast network of partners. Member food banks include Central Illinois Food Bank, Eastern Illinois Food Bank, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Northern Illinois Food Bank, Peoria Area Food Bank, River Bend Food Bank, St. Louis Area Food Bank and Tri-State Food Bank. The number of those who are hunger in Illinois can be staggering, and Feeding Illinois members play a critical role in responding to this need. More than 1.9 million people in the state have been assisted by our network**.
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*Map the Meal Gap, Feeding America National Office, 2016
**Hunger in America, Feeding America National Office, 2014
