Kane County held a Hunger Summit on September 24, where representatives from the Kane County Board and area food pantries met at Northern Illinois Food Bank to discuss the critical issues of hunger in Kane County.
Presenters included Julie Yurko of Northern Illinois Food Bank, who spoke about the great increase in the numbers of people seeking assistance from food pantries—up from 320,000 to 405,000 a month in 2022. This is all the more alarming because studies show that 60% of people who are eligible for food pantry assistance do not go to food pantries because they are ashamed of being in need, or don’t
know about food pantries.
Amy Johnson from the Kane County Sheriff’s department discussed the intersection between hunger and poverty and crime. Hunger creates ‘toxic stress’ which leads to violence, and de-escalating violence requires having adequate food. Sheriff’s police now make a point of checking for adequate food at any home where there has been domestic violence.
Kane County Director of the Department of Public Health Michael Isaacson noted that there is a connection between all of the social problems that affect public health, but if we can provide adequate food, it “will have a cascading effect on resolving all of our other social problems.”
Dr. Jennifer Kleinfeld of Rush Copley Medical Group and Principal Susan Rohlwing of Perry Elementary School in District 300 focused on the specific impact hunger has on children. It is crucial to have adequate nutrition for children during their first five years of life, when their brains are in peak development.
In all, the speakers were united that hunger is a basic social problem that leads to bigger and more difficult social and personal problems.
FFGE’s Executive Director Michael Montgomery spoke on behalf of all food pantries, calling attention to the vast increase in the number of people coming for food, and the need for greater financial support to meet this need.