Northern Illinois Food Bank works hard to keep deliveries going in bitter cold; "Hunger doesn't take a day off"
CHICAGO (CBS) -- During harsh winter weather, thoughts often turn to police officers, firefighters, and paramedics who have to work in the cold; but another group of people also is braving the brutal conditions for a critical need: food.
Despite the extreme cold this week, drivers for the Northern Illinois Food Bank have continued making their deliveries to keep food pantries stocked.
As a driver for the Northern Illinois Food Bank, Marianne Nelson delivers groceries to food pantries all over the area. To her, temperatures like the ones we've seen this week mean one thing:
"Slow. Everything works so much slower – your hydraulics, your everything is just slow," she said.
It's also slow because she needs to take breaks to heat up, and pantry volunteers need extra time to safely stock the groceries, but Nelson said cancelling deliveries because of the cold is not an option.
"You see the need, the necessity to feed them, and that keeps you motivated," she said.
Rebecca Lear just lost her job, and recently got in an accident, and said she is glad people like Nelson are keeping pantries stocked. Lear recently visited a food pantry in far northwest suburban Ingleside for the first time.
"This is super important," she said.
The Northern Illinois Food Bank takes special precautions to keep their trucks functioning, even in brutally cold temperatures.
"Most of our trucks are diesel. So diesel starts to gel up when you get below 10 degrees," said director of transportation Chuck Fulco.
In fact, drivers started putting additives in their fuel days before the brutal weather hit. The trucks also have heaters, which are plugged in overnight.
"At the end of the day, we back in and plug it in," Fulco said.
Fulco said two trucks didn't start on Wednesday, but other than that, they haven't had any major problems, despite this week's bitter temperatures, so they're able to keep the hundreds of pantries they serve stocked.
"Hunger doesn't take a day off because there's snow on the ground," Fulco said.
The Northern Illinois Food Bank helps more than half a million people every month. Officials said the need is at historic highs – almost double pre-pandemic levels – due to inflation and pandemic-era benefits ending.
If you need help, or would like to donate, go to their website solvehungertoday.org.
