New Reefer Truck Aids Local Food Donation Pickups

A new Northern Illinois Food Bank refrigerator truck from the Walmart Foundation made its first rounds in McHenry County Monday picking up food donations from local Walmart stores to support area food pantries.

The $85,000 truck was the latest in a nationwide Walmart campaign for hunger relief.  Huntley Walmart Co-Manager Gilberto Cruz said that since August his store has sent about 16,500 pounds of food to the Food Bank.The Algonquin store has sent about 16,600 he said. "Some of this would have been discarded," said Cruz. "Some would have just been sent back to the manufacturer."

The St. Charles-located Food Bank aids food pantries all over northern illinois inluding 18 in McHenry County.  Algonquin Lake in the Hills Interfaith pantry and the Grafton Tonwship pantry are among its customers.

Calls for help from the Food Bank have grown this year.  According to a recent report,NIFB has distributed more than 27 million pounds of food so far this year, up from 22.5 million during all of last year.  In fact, Food Bank spokesmen report it's running out of space and has just begun a campaign to raise funds for new facilities.

Huntley Wal-Mart Produce Manager Jim Ankrom wasn't surprised. He's a volunteer at a small church food pantry near Elburn. "Last year we had 15 or 20 families.  We provided help for 50 families last week."

In the pic:  Jim Ankrom and Gilberto Cruz at the Huntley Walmart help load boxes of surplus food onto the Northern Illinois Food Bank's new refrigerator truck.