Northern Illinois Food Bank Awarded $4,000 Earthrise Community Grant

Illinois Food Bank awards Earthrise Community Grant to help combat food insecurity in Will County. RISE Grant helps restock local food pantries shelves.

To help combat a rise in food insecurity in Will County, Earthrise Energy awarded a $4,000 RISE Grant recently to the Northern Illinois Food Bank. The grant will help fund several Northern Illinois Food Bank’s member agencies and local food pantries operating in Manhattan, Crete, and University Park, which have seen a spike in community residents needing food assistance.

“At this special time of year, it is especially meaningful to lend a hand to those in our communities who are less fortunate and struggling with food insecurity made worse by rising inflation rates,” said Maeven Sipes, chief philanthropy officer of the Northern Illinois Food Bank. “We thank Earthrise Energy for stepping up to help us and our member agencies meet the growing demand for food and lift our neighbors out of hunger.”

Jackson Creek Fellowship Church Food Pantry in Monee, Action Love Food Pantry in Monee, Christ’s Mission Church in Manhattan, and Faith Movers Church Food Pantry in University Park each will receive a portion of the grant to help restock their food pantry shelves with purchases through the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Collectively, these four organizations provide food assistance to 4,500 people. Due to rising costs, these local food pantries have seen a 30 percent increase in the number of people served compared to last December.

“We are grateful to the Northern Illinois Food Bank and the local food pantries that help serve our neighbors in need. Their work is truly inspiring and helps change lives one meal at a time,” said Carla Tully, CEO of Earthrise Energy. “We are proud to join the Northern Illinois Food Bank in their efforts to help provide nutritious food to community members, as we work to strengthen the local communities where Earthrise operates.”

As a public benefit corporation (PBC), Earthrise Energy is focused on generating enduring economic, social, and environmental benefits by aligning its business goals with the long-term needs of all stakeholders for the public good.

Earthrise Energy is an independent power producer that owns and operates five natural gas plants in Illinois, including the Lincoln Generation Facility in Manhattan and Crete Energy in Crete. The company is building on that foundation to develop more than 1.5 gigawatts of renewable energy projects to accelerate the country’s clean energy transition.

The Earthrise Energy RISE Grants were launched in 2022 and are awarded to nonprofit organizations directly providing programs or services that aspire to improve the environment and uplift students and communities where Earthrise operates.

To learn more about the Northern Illinois Food Bank, visit www.solvehungertoday.org. To learn more about the program and Earthrise’s commitment to local communities, visit https://earthriseenergy.com/community/.