‘Team Up to Fill Up’ from United Way of West Central Illinois collects food for pantries in 4 area counties

United Way of West Central Illinois and local food pantries in Henderson, Knox, Mercer and Warren counties are holding Team Up to Fill Up, the inaugural student-led, regional food drive on Monday, October 5.

Invitations to United Way's Team Up to Fill Up regional food drive have been sent to all high school and college administration and student affairs offices. The drive is open to student affairs offices, school principals, coaches, student governments, clubs, sports teams, classrooms, grade levels, campus organizations and student-led groups. Schools may choose the competition structure that works best for them, like grade versus grade, team versus team, club versus club or campus-wide participation.

The drive was organized in response to one local pantry request for United Way of West Central Illinois' assistance with one community.

"When we were asked, we wanted to be most helpful,” said executive director Jeannie Weber. “Knowing already that local pantries are seeing more residents in need this year, we knew we needed to include all four counties in our service area."

"In order to support our local students in this, we wanted to keep things simple for them and also create a philanthropic opportunity that was fun and rewarding," said United Way WCI Community Outreach Coordinator Madison Hieser. She and administration support specialist Payton Smith are leading this effort, along with three local interns from Knox College, Ciao Oliveria, Diego dos Santos Bronco Mart and Dareann Pettis.

All food donated through Team Up to Fill Up will be distributed to local pantries in the counties where food was donated. Fish Food Pantry, Jamieson Community Center, Family Outreach Community Center and Mercer County Food Pantry will receive the donations and will distribute the food to the smaller local pantries in their area using a formula from River Bend Food Bank.

Recent reports from Feeding America show that while rural counties are a fraction of the population in Illinois, nearly 90% of counties with the highest food insecurity rates are rural. This is due to several factors, including higher food prices, a drastic reduction in government support systems which includes families working full time but still unable to afford basic needs, seniors, those on disability, and children, as well as a lack of transportation.

United Way of West Central Illinois has supported local organizations in Warren County since 1972. Its outreach and support has expanded drastically over the years to meet the needs of rural communities in West Central Illinois, including its most recent expansions to Henderson, Knox and Mercer Counties.

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