11/19/2020
Sunset Foods Northbrook Partners with Hunger Resource Network to Feed our Northbrook Students in Need Hunger Resource Network Sunset Foods
“Buy a Bag of Groceries to Feed our Students”
Northbrook, IL; November 2020: Sunset Foods Northbrook, in partnership with Hunger Resource Network, is sponsoring a program to provide non-perishable groceries for 160 Northbrook students and their families. The “Buy a Bag of Groceries for a Student” food program is aimed at providing supplemental weekend meals for students who are on the free or reduced lunch program in our Northbrook public schools.
Sunset Foods has made it very easy for those who would like to help feed our local students. At checkout, customers simply tell the cashier to add “a bag of groceries for a student” to their bill. The $30 tax free donation provides eight nutritional meals to a local student and customers may purchase as many bags as they would like.
“When Sunset Foods learned about Hunger Resource Network’s efforts to help feed our local students who are food insecure, we immediately wanted to find a way to help,” said Bruce Gonzalez, Sunset Foods Northbrook store manager. “We have been partnering with Hunger Resource Network by hosting their bi-annual chicken distribution days in our parking lot for several years and this is a natural extension of our alliance to give back to the community. We are hoping that people who can give will participate, because our local families need our help.”
In the area, 1 in 10 residents are food insecure, equaling about 4000 people, and the number has been growing due to COVID-19. There are almost 400 Northbrook students on the free or reduced lunch program in our public schools and Hunger Free Northbrook, a program of Hunger Resource Network, is currently serving 160 students and their families across the twelve public elementary and middle schools in Northbrook. The Sunset Foods program supports the Hunger Free Northbrook monthly student food pack program, giving these deserving families much needed assistance during these challenging times.
“Thanks to the generosity of the Northbrook community and the caring and giving spirit of the folks at Sunset Foods, we will be able to continue to support our local students and their families in need”, said Dan Jariabka, President and Founder of Hunger Resource Network.
“Through the Hunger Free Northbrook Student Food Pack program and with the help of our school administrators, we are now serving 160 students who are food insecure and the need is especially great during this difficult time,” continues Jariabka. “The Sunset Foods leadership team is always thinking about ways they can serve others in our community, so we were thrilled to have them join us in this effort.”
People who want to help one or more of the 160 local students and their families can “buy a bag of groceries” at the register for $30. Sunset Foods puts the bags together based on a list of healthy, non-perishable items developed by a local nutritionist. From there, volunteers distribute the bags to our local schools who get the bags to the families while respecting their privacy.
To learn more about Hunger Resource Network and Hunger Free Northbrook, go to hungerresourcenetwork.org.
