GEORGETOWN — Cadle Foundation and Eastern Illinois Foodbank are teaming up to distribute a truckload of food from the Eastern Illinois Foodbank to hungry area families.

The distribution will be 10 a.m. to noon at Georgetown-Ridge Farm High School, 500 W. Mulberry St., on March 9. All Vermilion County residents who meet income eligibility criteria are welcome.

The distribution is part of the Foodbank’s Foodmobile Program, a system of mobile food pantries designed to help bring nutritious food to areas of chronic or extreme need, according to a food bank press release.

Through the program, local companies and organizations can contribute toward a one-day distribution of food and optionally participate in the distribution process. The cost to partner with the food bank on a Foodmobile distribution is $2,500.

The Foodmobile distribution comes at a critical moment for area residents. Data released by Feeding America, the nation’s network of food banks, shows that 15 percent of people in eastern Illinois are considered food insecure, which means they sometimes lack adequate access to food. The report shows more than 20 percent of children are food insecure. (http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-studies/map-the-meal-gap.aspx)

“The number of people in eastern Illinois struggling to get food on the tables has been on a 10-year climb,” Jim Hires, executive director at the food bank, said in a press release. “Eastern Illinois has been hit especially hard. We are so grateful to Cadle Foundation for their commitment to helping the hungry through corporate giving and service.”

All eligible residents of Vermilion County needing food are welcome to attend the Foodmobile distribution. To be eligible, a household must have an income at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $3,554 per month for a family of four. Full eligibility criteria are listed below. Other area Foodmobile distributions can be found by visiting the food bank’s website at http://www.eifoodbank.org and clicking “find help.”

Maximum monthly income per eligible household (each additional household member over eight, $611): one person household, $1,722; two persons, $2,333; three people, $2,943; four people, $3,554; five people, $4,164; six people, $4,775; seven people, $5,385; and eight people, $5,996.

Eastern Illinois Foodbank works to alleviate hunger in eastern Illinois through cooperation with a network of food pantries, agencies and other programs like the Foodmobile program. The food bank distributes donated and discounted food throughout a 14-county service area in cooperation with 220 member agencies and programs. Through these agencies, the food bank provides food to more than 100,000 men, women and children each year.

The Eastern Illinois Foodbank is a member of Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest), Feeding Illinois, the United Way of Coles County and the United Way of Champaign County.

FYI

Cadle Foundation and Eastern Illinois Foodbank will distribute a truckload of food from 10 a.m. to noon March 9 at Georgetown-Ridge Farm High School, 500 W Mulberry St., Georgetown.