Become a Member Agency of Eastern Illinois Foodbank

Eastern Illinois Foodbank is intentional about expanding our network. In order to best serve the agencies that we work with, we need to make sure that we have adequate food, resources and staff capacity to provide a high level of service to our partners and the community. 

Before investing your organization’s resources in starting up a program, please investigate local food resources. Click the “Find Help” button on the top left of the screen, find your county on the map or scroll down to the list of counties and click yours. This will provide you a listing of all emergency food programs affiliated with EIF in your area.  Learning about your neighborhood and what services are available will help you decide when and how you want to become part of the hunger solution.

Partnership Requirements

Agency Location
Your agency must be located in our 18 county service area - Champaign, Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Dewitt, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Iroquois, Jasper, Livingston, McLean, Moultrie, Piatt, Vermilion, or Woodford County.

Mission
Have a mission to serve people in need. Identify the population you expect to serve and learn the level of need in your area.

501(c)(3)
To be a partner of EIF, your organization must be designated a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization by the IRS or be affiliated with a 501(c)(3) umbrella organization. Limited exceptions may be made if your organization meets the criteria used by the IRS in defining a church. Please visit the IRS.gov website for more information about the requirements of 501(c)(3) status. If your organization does not have 501(c)(3) status and is not interested in pursuing it at this time, you might consider partnering with another organization to help them expand or strengthen their emergency food program.

Storage & Equipment
EIF requires its partner agencies to be able to store food safely and securely in an established location. The space should have adequate shelving or other storage to store food off of the ground. Adequate freezer and cooler storage is required to access frozen and refrigerated product.

Budget
You will need a budget to pay for your program expenses. Your budget may come from donations, grants, or other sources, but you will need a regular source of money. In addition to the costs connected with getting food from EIF (many items do have a cost associated with them), you can count on at least some of the following expenses: staffing, transportation, pest control, internet service, cleaning supplies and storage containers.

Record Keeping
Your agency must utilize an electronic intake system called “Link2Feed” provided to you by EIF. You must provide your own wireless internet connection. Record keeping is important for IRS accounting rules and donor accountability practices. Additionally it helps in hunger advocacy efforts to understand how much food is distributed to people in need in any given area or time period.

If you have additional questions, please email Emily Yoder at eyoder (at) eifoodbank.org or download a copy of our Agency Handbook.

If you would like to take the next steps in becoming a partner agency please fill out this survey to be placed on the new agency waitlist.