Lauren Doherty, CEO
ldoherty@cnnssa.org
North Riverside, IL: Writer and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott announced she has donated over $4.2 billion in the last four months to 384 organizations across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C. amid the impacts of the pandemic.
Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois is humbled and honored to be one of these selected organizations receiving a transformative grant of $750,000.
In her blog post she wrote:
I asked a team of advisors to help me accelerate my 2020 giving through immediate support to people suffering the economic effects of the crisis. They took a data-driven approach to identifying organizations with strong leadership teams and results, with special attention to those operating in communities facing high projected food insecurity, high measures of racial inequity, high local poverty rates, and low access to philanthropic capital.
We will be working closely with our Board of Directors and executive staff to ensure this gift is used to strengthen our Northern Illinois community and sustain our mission for years to come. This gift will allow our organization to continue to support our efforts in Will County; continue to expand our programs to meet the ever-changing needs linked to COVID-19; and dedicate time and resources to strategic planning to ensure our programs can meet the needs of our community.
With the outbreak of COVID-19, some of our programs shifted and the need increased dramatically. Despite the pandemic, our team was able to:
- Provide 7,300 local seniors with nutritious meals and home visits, up from 6,052 a year ago — and growing every day
- Expand our services into Will County
- Initiate our wellness call program to check in with homebound seniors, helping keep more of our older neighbors safe and healthy
- Distribute nearly 86,000 emergency meals to isolated seniors in Northern Illinois due to
COVID-19 - Serve a remarkable 84,000 holiday meals to fill bellies and brighten spirits this November and December.
- Volunteers contributed 73,000 hours to help provide a total of over 830,000 meals
Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois is grateful to MacKenzie Scott for recognizing the hard work of our team and volunteers as we work to keep homebound, Northern Illinois seniors healthy and safe.
About Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois: The Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois is a not-for-profit organization created to increase public awareness and generate contributions to support the services provided by Community Nutrition Network and Senior Services Association (CNNSSA). The Foundation seeks support for the funding of Community Cafés and home delivery of meals to eligible older adults in Cook, Will, Grundy, and Kendall counties in Illinois. For more information, please visit our about us page.