Hundreds volunteer at Midwest Food Bank to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

Posted on January 15, 2024
Hundreds packaged pasta and food crates for a semi. (Photo courtesy; WJBC/File)

By Blake Haas

NORMAL – Martin Luther King Jr. day marked a day of giving back in McLean County.

At the Midwest Food Bank in Normal, hundreds of volunteers packaged noodles and stacked food crates for those in need.

“People just love it in this community,” said Aimee Beam, the Executive Director of the food bank. “If you haven’t tried it (volunteering), I really encourage you to get involved. We’re doing real things. We’re feeding people, we’re keeping school kids from being hungry, we’re helping the elderly who can’t get out. Let’s do this together.”

The Midwest Food Bank network serves over 132,000 central Illinois residents each month.

To volunteer, visit Midwestfoodbank.org.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…