Season of Giving Kickoff 2013? Splendid!

To kick off my Season of Giving 2013, I'm donating to one of my favorite local charities.  Yes, I did give the Eastern Illinois Foodbank a donation last year, but I find their work so invaluable to my community that I definitely planned to give to them again this year.

If you didn't read last year's post on the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, you can check it out by clicking this link.

During my time of employment limbo this spring, I signed up to volunteer at the Foodbank.  I was able to attend a couple of the repack volunteer nights before my work schedule eliminated that possibility, but it was a really great opportunity for me.  I enjoyed seeing a bunch of strangers work together really efficiently to repack food from giant bulk bins into manageable family-sized servings.  It was a really diverse group, too!  I would say the ages ranged from 17 years old to 65 years old, and the group worked together so well.  At the end of the evening, it was obvious that we made a huge dent in the work that needed to be done, and for me at least, it was nice to have a sense of accomplishment during a time when I didn't get much of that feeling.

After checking out the Eastern Illinois Foodbank on Charity Navigator this year, I'm even more impressed with the organization.  According to the data, more than 95% of the Foodbank's expenses are put toward the services and programs it provides.  That's an incredibly high percentage.

A year later, I'm still amazed at the sheer amount of people (over 100,000!)who are served by the Eastern Illinois Foodbank throughout 14 counties!