DAVENPORT, IOWA (April 22, 2020) — Midwest Food Bank has been awarded a grant of $300,000 from The Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund (ICRF) to support food procurement and distribution across Illinois. “This grant will support Midwest Food Bank’s ongoing efforts to distribute food to our non-profit partners across the state, “says Monica Scheuer, Executive Director, Midwest Food Bank — Peoria Division “Our primary concern is ensuring local food pantries have full shelves as they face the additional strain of serving newly-unemployed workers amid quarantine.”
The ICRF, chaired by former US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, is providing flexible funding to non-profit organizations across the state to supply essential resources to the individuals and households most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Midwest Food Bank is receiving funds from the second round of grants. The second round of ICRF grants are going predominantly to large statewide or regional direct service providers who are addressing basic needs in multiple communities around the state. The ICRF grants have ranged from $25,000 to $400,000. ICRF has raised more than $30 million from over 2400 donors since its launch on March 26.
“I am so proud to see Illinoisans stepping up and helping each other through these challenging times,” said Governor JB Pritzker in a recent press release. “Thousands of Illinoisans have now contributed to this fund and I'm thrilled to see these resources going to organizations doing critical work in our communities.”
About ICRF: https://www.ilcovidresponsefund.org/
About Midwest Food Bank: Midwest Food Bank has eight locations in the United States, and one each in East Africa and Haiti. Their mission is to alleviate hunger by gathering and distributing food donations to not-for-profits and disaster sites at no cost to the recipients. More information is available at midwestfoodbank.org.
