The Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva received a unique food drop this week as 180,000 donated Eggo waffles landed on its doorstep.
The waffles – and a check for $5,000 – arrived at the facility thanks to the generosity of Eggo, a brand owned by Kellanova.
Jewel-Osco joined Kellanova in supporting the donation by volunteering at the Northern Illinois Food Bank, said Mary Frances Trucco, director of communications, public affairs and government relations at Jewel-Osco.
The donation was made of behalf of Eggo’s L’Eggo Forward program, which works with communities trying to make sure kids don’t go hungry, and the Kellanova Better Days Promise, which is working to “advance sustainable and equitable access to food,” company officials said.
Katie Heraty, media relations director for the food bank, said officials at the facility received word about the donation “about a month ago” and that the truck with the waffles arrived on Wednesday.
“The waffles are frozen but they are shelf-stable so they can be used as part of our backpack program,” Heraty said. “They’ll be put in backpacks for the kids that take them home for the weekend. They will also be offered to pantries or agencies who will also receive them.”
Heraty said the supply of waffles would likely be used up within three weeks.
The donation, she said, “is definitely large and it will help us feed the neighbors.”
Officials from the food bank, Kellanova and Albertsons, which owns Jewel-Osco, met around 8:45 a.m. Thursday at the facility in Geneva where a check was presented in front of a backdrop of boxes and boxes of frozen waffles.
Crates of Eggo waffles wait to be broken down and packed Thursday at the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva. A total of 180,000 waffles and a $5,000 check were donated to the food bank by Eggo, a brand owned by Kellanova. (David Sharos / For The Beacon-News)
Jordan Clarfelt, a key account executive with Kellanova, said that the waffle donation “was the largest I’ve ever been a part of.”
“I can say that for sure. I’m not sure historically what’s been made as far as the largest donation but this is the largest I’ve been a part of,” he said. “It’s incredible. We want to support better mornings for the families and for the people that are food deprived who really need it. But what’s really cool about these waffles is they don’t have to be frozen. These are one of our new innovations and a cool way to unlock something we could never do before.”
Maeven Sipes, chief philanthropy officer for the Northern Illinois Food Bank, said about 50 volunteers were on hand Thursday to help pack the waffles and other items.
She said the crew members were excited about their mission.
Volunteers at the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva get briefed in the warehouse Thursday before packing up 180,000 Eggo waffles that were donated this week. (David Sharos / For The Beacon-News)
“People are smiling and excited. Eggos are great. For me, it’s nostalgia. I remember eating them as a kid and it’s a nice treat. We’re excited to put them in our backpack program,” Sipes said.
Sipes said the donation was really important “because right now the need is really high.”
“Food insecurity is the highest it’s been since 2014. We’re serving an average of over 550,000 neighbors every month across our 13 counties,” Sipes said. “That’s about double of what we were serving pre-pandemic and so the need is there.”
Sipes said that pantry officials are excited that some of the waffles “are going to go for our backpack program where over 2,000 kids get a backpack of food on the weekends.”
She said that since 2002, Kellanova has donated over $188,000 to the food bank, and has donated 4.4 million pounds of food in the last decade.
Sean Holton of Gilberts, a sales representative for Kellanova, was on hand as part of the volunteer group Thursday and said the company “is really into the Better Days program and loves to give back to the community.”
“We believe things like this and volunteering for the food bank is something that is important to the company,” he said. “We’ve done other donations like this and we are big into this and feeding America.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
