December 21, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact Ibis Antongiorgi, Press Secretary to Cook County Board President Todd H. Stroger, at 312-603-0396 or by email at iantongiorgi@cookcountygov.com. 

County Board President presents $5,000 check to Food Depository to ease shortfall in annual donations 

Donation supplements contributions through annual Cook County employee food drive. See below for photos.

CHICAGO, December 21, 2007 – Cook County Board President Todd H. Stroger presented a check for $5,000 to Alicia Huguelet, Michelle DiSanto and Andy Christensen of the Greater Chicago Food Depository this afternoon, as part of Cook County employees' annual holiday donation of thousands of pounds of food and dollars to the agency. The check donation – enough to provide about 15,000 meals for the hungry – came in the wake of a morning of employee donations of food and financial support for the Depository.

The Greater Chicago Food Depository distributes donated and purchased food through a network of 600 food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters to almost a half-million adults and children in the region. Last year, the Food Depository distributed more than 40 million pounds of nonperishable food and fresh produce, dairy products and meat, the equivalent of more than 84,000 meals every day. Innovative training programs and initiatives developed by the Food Depository also work to provide men, women and children with the tools necessary to break their individual cycles of poverty.

“Hunger is a devastating reality for thousands of Cook County residents every day – from seniors on fixed incomes to the families of working people,” said President Stroger. “As part of our larger commitment to the public good, all of us at Cook County wanted to help ease the burden with this contribution.”

Cook County has been supporting the efforts of the Food Depository through its annual employee holiday food drive for fifteen years. This year, the need is greater than ever.

Donations to the Greater Chicago Food Depository and its member pantries are down this holiday season – driven in part by a steep drop-off in food commodities from the federal government. To compound matters, donations of salvage products – the dented cans and damaged boxes the Depository receives from retailers – have dipped by 42 percent since 2004. The drop-off in donations has dovetailed with a growing need for food from constituencies that include seniors on fixed incomes and families of the working poor.

Cook County employees are dropping off food and financial donations today at over a dozen County sites, including downtown administrative buildings, the County's hospital network and six separate courthouse sites, along with the Cook County Forest Preserve District's headquarters in suburban River Forest. For more information about this year's Cook County employee holiday food drive, contact coordinator Martha Martinez at 312-603-7832 or by email at mamartin@cookcountygov.com.

For more information, contact Ibis Antongiorgi, Press Secretary to Cook County Board President Todd H. Stroger, at 312-603-0396 or iantongiorgi@cookcountygov.com. 

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