Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB)

Schreiber Philanthropy’s support of Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB), which works to provide nutritious food and resources for neighbors with dignity, equity, and convenience, increased in 2020 in response to the drastic increase in need during the pandemic. Then, in 2021 – after thoughtful collaboration and creative ideation – Schreiber Philanthropy proudly supported NIFB’s “big idea” to scale their pilot program called My Pantry Express (MPX). MPX is an online food pantry ordering system, which allows individuals to select desired food items and designate a time for pick-up or delivery. The program is designed with dignity and convenience in mind, recognizing that there are many barriers that can make accessing a traditional food pantry difficult. Support from Schreiber Philanthropy also enabled the Food Bank to build an Innovation Team which has been instrumental in designing MPX with input from neighbors using the service and scaling the program to food pantries. MPX started with four sites in two counties, and in five years, it's expanded to nearly 20 sites across Northern Illinois. In 2023, over 75,000 orders were fulfilled through the MPX platform providing more than two million meals, and demand continues to grow.