Food Bank Adds Community Nutrition Director to Staff
Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB) is taking the important issue of proper nutrition to a higher level by establishing a Community Nutrition Center and hiring Kelly Brausseur as its Director. Brausseur will develop the Food Bank’s Community Nutrition Program, which will be housed in NIFB’s new facility currently being constructed in Geneva. Northern Illinois Food Bank recognizes the difficulty faced by many in providing proper nutrition to their families with limited resources.
Saint Charles, IL (Vocus) October 7, 2010
Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB) is taking the important issue of proper nutrition to a higher level by establishing a Community Nutrition Center and hiring Kelly Brausseur as its Director. Brausseur will develop the Food Bank’s Community Nutrition Program, which will be housed in NIFB’s new facility currently being constructed in Geneva. Northern Illinois Food Bank recognizes the difficulty faced by many in providing proper nutrition to their families with limited resources.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (U. S.D. A.), two-thirds of U. S. adults are overweight or obese. The U. S. is also seeing record numbers of children who are plagued by the side effects of carrying extra pounds. Obesity has been proven to contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes. The American Diabetes Association (A. D.A.) reports that 90-95% of diabetes cases are type 2. Many cases of type 2 diabetes are believed to be preventable.
“We know from studies, by the A. D.A., and U. S.D. A. that diabetes and obesity contribute to the occurrence of heart disease, stroke and death amongst other serious health complications,” says Northern Illinois Food Bank CEO and President, H. Dennis Smith. “We have grave concerns that low-income families are more vulnerable to falling into unhealthy eating patterns; not by choice but because they have smaller food budgets and, consequently, a decreased ability to purchase healthy food items. The addition of our Community Nutrition Center and Kelly will enable us to focus more attention to the nutritional needs of our clients.” Smith added.
In addition to overseeing the day-to-day running of the Community Nutrition Center, Brausseur will expand the Food Bank’s efforts to influence healthy food choices through existing participation in several county initiatives as well as participating in others. Currently, NIFB has an active role in Lake County’s “Be Well”, Kane County’s “F. O.R. W.A. R.D” and DuPage County’s “Fit for Kids”.
About Northern Illinois Food Bank:
Feeding America’s Food Bank of the Year, Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB) is a non-profit organization that provides food to all those in need through its 665 partner agencies in 13 counties including - Boone, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Will and Winnebago. NIFB acquires, gathers, handles, and distributes donated, government, and purchased food to more than 61,000 different people each week through local food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, youth activity centers and other food assistance sites. In Fiscal Year 2010 Northern Illinois Food Bank distributed over 35 million pounds of food. The Food Bank has recently launched a Capital Campaign to build a new Food Distribution and Community Nutrition Center to enable them to handle more food more efficiently to meet the increasing demand.
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