The Greater Chicago Food Depository has been the food bank for Chicago and Cook County since 1979. It distributes more than 160,000 meals a day through a network of over 800 pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and community programs, and reaches more than 800,000 people a year. Roughly one in six Cook County residents uses its services. Kate Maehr serves as Executive Director and CEO, and the organization holds a four-star Charity Navigator rating with a program-expense ratio above 92 percent.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository is the wholesale engine behind hunger relief in Cook County. It sources, stores, and distributes food to more than 800 frontline programs across Chicago and its suburbs, adding up to over 160,000 meals a day. Beyond moving food, it runs job-training and benefits-access programs and has been a national voice on hunger policy, on the view that emergency food alone does not end the problem.
Kate Maehr has served as Executive Director and CEO for many years and is one of the most prominent leaders in the national anti-hunger field, active in Feeding America’s leadership. Under her, the Depository has maintained a four-star Charity Navigator rating and a program-expense ratio above 92 percent, meaning the large majority of its spending goes directly to its mission.
The service area is Cook County, which includes Chicago and many of its suburbs and is the second-most-populous county in the country. Need spans the city’s South and West sides, older industrial suburbs, and pockets across the region. About one in six county residents relies on the Depository’s network in a given year.
Yes. The Greater Chicago Food Depository is a 501(c)(3) and a Feeding America member with a four-star Charity Navigator rating, the highest available, and a high program-expense ratio. Bulk buying and donated food mean donations produce many meals.
Donations and volunteer shifts run through chicagosfoodbank.org. The Depository runs one of the largest volunteer operations in the region, and cash gifts go furthest because of its purchasing power.
Within Cook County, the Greater Chicago Food Depository is the central hunger-relief organization, working alongside the Salvation Army’s metropolitan operations and the United Way of Metro Chicago on the broader safety net. For anyone in the Chicago area, the Depository is the lead food bank to support.
800+ pantries, soup kitchens, and programs across Cook County.
Culinary and workforce programs that address a cause of hunger.
Help connecting residents to SNAP and other support.
Targeted distributions for the most vulnerable groups.
Sources: Greater Chicago Food Depository website (chicagosfoodbank.org), Charity Navigator (EIN 36-2971864), and Feeding America leadership materials. We are not affiliated with Greater Chicago Food Depository and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
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