On Thursday, Northern Illinois Food Bank celebrated delivering millions of meals to people experiencing food insecurity since partnering with DoorDash’s Project DASH in 2021.
State Rep. Natalie Manley, D-Joliet, joined representatives from the Northern Illinois Food Bank and DoorDash at the food bank’s South Suburban Center in Joliet.
Jennifer Lamplough, chief impact officer at the Northern Illinois Food Bank, said Wednesday that 5 million deliveries have been made across the food bank’s 13-county service area through Project DASH since 2021.
“Ending hunger is a community-wide effort. We can’t do it alone,” Lamplough said. “Because of our partnership with DoorDash, more of our vulnerable neighbors are able to receive food.”
People who need food can order online through My Pantry Express and then schedule pickup or home delivery, Lamplough said.
“It’s a great option for people who have barriers: lack of transportation, not enough money for gas, veterans with [post-traumatic stress disorder] who find it hard to leave the house, single moms with kids, seniors who might be homebound and non-English-speaking households,” Lamplough said.
In fiscal 2025, which ended June 30, Project DASH delivered 30,655 Pantry Express grocery orders, Lamplough said.
About 2,500 deliveries are made each month throughout the 13 counties, and 1,000 of them are in Will County, Lamplough said.
Home delivery is available to food pantry recipients living within a 10-mile radius of the pantry and in an area that offers online ordering, Lamplough said, which is the case for Aicha Kaltsos of Joliet.
Kaltsos said she learned about the Northern Illinois Food Bank from a neighbor, who brought Kaltsos food after Kaltsos lost her job in a department store in 2018.
For a time, Kaltsos picked up food for her family – which included her husband and two children – at the food bank’s South Suburban Center in Joliet.
“I loved going out,” Kaltsos said. “And I like to talk.”
But when Kaltsos found a job cleaning a business center during the night shift, she wasn’t able to drive to the food bank in time, she said. That’s when Kaltsos began using Project DASH.
“This has been so helpful to me and my family,” Kaltsos said. “They are nice people. They deliver on time, and they deliver what I asked them. I really appreciate them.”
Kaltsos said receiving food from the food bank doesn’t replace grocery shopping “when you have a family to feed.”
“But it sure does help, especially when you’re struggling,” Kaltsos said. “When you find hands that want to come to you, hands that want to help you, that’s a gift from God.”
Kaltsos feels the community shouldn’t assume “people are rich” and shouldn’t need a food pantry just because they own a house and a car.
“You never know what’s going inside their four walls,” Kaltsos said.
Lamplough said complex economic and social factors can contribute to food insecurity, including a reduction in federal programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid, not earning a living wage, and medical issues that “increase monthly health costs and cut into the monthly food budget.”
“It’s not just people out there looking for freebies and handouts,” Lamplough said.
Food insecurity is at its highest level in more than a decade, according to a news release from the Northern Illinois Food Bank.
Last year, the food bank provided more than 93 million meals across its 13-county service area, an almost 5% increase from the previous year, according to the release.
Daniel Riff, head of government and nonprofit operations at DoorDash, said DoorDash started Project DASH in 2018 “as a way to allow nonprofit partners to use our platform to help fulfill their mission.”
Riff said Project DASH partners with food banks and food pantries of all sizes across the U.S., with the Northern Illinois Food Bank being one of the largest and most dedicated in terms of “making a serious commitment” in food choice and food delivery.
“It’s an impressive model for the rest of the country,” Riff said. “We’re happy to be part of it.”