Northern Illinois Food Bank

Great place to volunteer! You can check availability and times and sign up for specific volunteer slots on their website. The group leaders are very friendly and will make sure you understand the tasks you work on. The projects you work on and food go toward helping local residents. It feels nice to give a few hours of your time to help the food bank help others in need!

I am reporting these facts 9 days before Thanksgiving of 2025. My daughter drove her car and my mom drove her car to the line of food pantry at City First in Rockford IL. We are shocked and dismayed at the contents of their boxes. Each had a case (6) of popcorn, 7 bottles of pancake syrup, 2 shells-stable milks, 2 unmarked white rice bags, and 1 frozen 2 pound "stewing" bird. Wait! There was a bag of corn flour. First of all, this box of food is racist. I am not going to spell it out, but side-eye wondering where the bags of dry pinto beans or cans of refried beans are? Regardless of anyone's cultural food preferences, what in the world are they familiar supposed to do with 6 bags of popcorn and 6 syrups. There should be canned veggies, a bag of potatoes, some rolls or bread. I am ashamed of City First... I can only speak for myself, but where do my tithes go every week? Whew. Thanks for almost nothing, pantry & city first.

Went there on 10/30/25. Stood in line for 1.5 hours. When I got in and started to get the food, I never checked the dates. 50% of the items were 8 months expired and the bread (2 out of 4) was moldy. Like other pantries , always getting bad food.

Amazing place that does so much to help the northern Illinois community. An exceptional spot for volunteering, they have online sign ups and are extremely friendly and organized. The warehouse is super clean and tidy and the volunteer organizers make it fun and easy no matter what your abilities are. Highly recommend supporting this organization, they are doing it right! Huge thank you to the NIFB team

I've been using their drive thru pick up service. can't say enough on how much this helps feed the family. Without them it would be very difficult to make ends meet. Thank you

Nice people. Quick unloading. In and out 45 minutes full trailer (dry). No overnight parking

I am home bound and can only get food thru the delivery service thru noerhten illimois food bank while thismis really a great service the issue is. It is the same food every week rice,onions,milk,eggs, cereal, black beans canned peaches bag of,pinto,beans Mac and cheese small bottle,of,jelly corn flour ( which a lot,ofmus don’t even use) oats Do,you get it same old stuff but if you can get to a place,to. Pick,up,food you get meat and lots,of,it a lot,of good fruits and veggies snacks. All laundry soap extras that people,donate you can pick from a shelf So to,the board members WHYBARE WE DISCRIMUNATED AGAIANST NEVAUSE WE ARE HOMEBOUND foe medical reasons oh and I asked at the Geneva office they said because our food boxedp come from Rockford so they can’t send frozen food well, this isn’t true because I have gotten frozen turkey,in my box before ( although very rare and it’s not a pound while,if you pick up your box a pantry you get hamburger chicken. Beef a lot more ) Then the,office in genve told me to call the home meals service which I cannot afford,to,do and they were pretty rude about it So again why don’t we get the same service and respect as those who can get place to pick up,boxes of food seems like double standard Also why aren’t boards of director meeting,open to the piblic and why is it o. The google that the board members are volunteers whe does a volunteer get,laid over $300,000 lime the ceo of this,organization get paid and why does the board of,directors approve there own raises So muc going on In the dark always comes,to,lite eventually

I was initially sent to other branch in Joliet which they refused my company's donate because lack of space. After waiting for at least three hours I was sent to the main office. I wish they would've had this worked out from the beginning. As soon as I got here I was given a door. I was telling someone it shouldn't ever have to be this difficult to donate food.🤦🏿‍♂️🤷🏿‍♂️

This entire operation is to grab your information (name, phone, email, age) and sell it to companies so you can be spammed to death from Pakistan, India, etc. on selling you services for poorer people. They won't give you food unless you give them a state ID or driver's license- they want your info! Food: Lots of over-processed stuff that causes cancers, diabetes, inflammation. Lots of products with High Fructose Corn Syrup, MSG, salts, etc...

I am very pleased with the work done by NI Food Bank. I know some people have complained about their treatment when volunteering. ("Nothing to do". "Sat there for 15 minutes.", etc.). This is most regrettable. But the objective of this and any charity to provide assistance to all those in need. That is the end goal for everyone participating in some form or fashion. Almost everyone there is engaged in inspecting and packaging food. I'm sorry a few felt left out. But that's no reason to dis a very fine charity that serves hundreds of thousands of people throughout Illinois. It's not about you. It's about those in need.

When you volunteer and they have too many people let people know so they can leave. I volunteered on 12/03 and nothing to do. Totally unacceptable.

I came here to volunteer with a group. They had a presentation prior to starting the volunteer event which was informative to the company, their mission etc. Instructions were clearly provided prior to starting the volunteer stations. The place is clean and they also ensure that all volunteers handling the food items with cleanliness etc. It was an overall fun experience. Time goes by quickly! I'd come back again to volunteer.

As an organization that helps feed the local community, they are somewhat decent. As an employer, truly despicable. There is a reason their turnover rate is incredibly high. They are trying to do good for others but can't do right by their employees. Bless their hearts.

How about them apples?!? On this day it was all about packing them Michigan red delicious apples. I've never been here before and it was our first time. It was so much fun and nice to do something different out of our regular. At first you sign in and head to a meeting room where the speaker explains to you about the company and their vision and then the rules. Fun fact $1 donated provides $8 worth of food!! Our job for the day was to individually pack 5lb bags of apples. The packaging warehouse is big and very clean. They have volunteers for so many tasks our supervisor was a volunteer which was cool. This is a great foundation to support and great for schools, families, and local communities to bond and give back.

Great organization. Incredible service to the community. I just don't know how you justify in a not for profit operation, paying the CEO over $300,000 a year.

Cam here to volunteer. If you haven't volunteered here before you should really consider it. The place is gigantic. Literally humongous. The staff are fun and friendly and explain things to you easily. Lucky for us we didn't do anything super hard, we packed and sealed cereal. They tell you at the end how many people you helped feed, which is always fun to know. The entire place is immaculate. So clean. Really makes you feel comfortable with the job that you are doing. Sending food all over the state to people, it's good to know that the food you're sending comes from such a clean facility. The best part about this for our family, is that children 8 and older can volunteer. Which is always a good for us. We like to get the kids involved with volunteer work as frequently as possible. I think we will all be back again sometime.