About the Nonprofit
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Hunger Resource Network (HRN), a non-profit organization based in Northbrook, Illinois, is celebrating its 16th year of fighting food insecurity in the Chicagoland area.
The mission of Hunger Resource Network is to aid in the alleviation of hunger by helping meet the needs of food relief organizations in the Chicagoland area. Hunger Resource Network (HRN) does not serve individuals directly, but coordinates services through recipient service providers including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and more recently, through schools. Since our founding in 2009, HRN has procured and provided a total of over 4.6 million pounds of food at no cost to recipient agencies.
Hunger Resource Network was founded in 2009 by a group of volunteers in Northbrook committed to building a network comprised of food suppliers and food relief agencies in the greater Chicagoland area and linking them through volunteers. For the first time in 2022, we hired one full-time staff member, but we continue to rely primarily on volunteers.
Both Greater Chicago Food Depository and Northern Illinois Food Bank provide valuable assistance to food banks and pantries. Yet many small food relief agencies in Chicagoland are not served by these two organizations. Small agencies may not meet the membership requirements of these larger food banks or have funds to pay for the food they provide.Hunger Resource Network fills this critical gap.
Through our network of volunteers, Hunger Resource Network locates and delivers food to small hunger relief agencies at no cost to them. Our volunteers rescue unsold, high-quality produce from farmers markets and excess food from local businesses and transport it to local pantries.
After surveying food relief organizations, we began to address one of their major challenges - - the chronic shortage of sources of high-quality protein. To help fulfill this need, we hold Poultry to Pantries Day every spring and fall. With funds we raise, we purchase high-quality frozen chicken from a distributor at a greatly discounted price. A typical event results in the distribution of 160,000 pounds of frozen chicken at no cost to over 50 food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters throughout Cook County and the collar counties.
Your donation to Hunger Resource Network will help us provide protein at a time where more people are fighting food insecurity. We appreciate your support and generosity.
