Watershed Development Partners with Northern Illinois Food Bank to Deploy Mobile Food Pantry

Watershed Development Corporation has partnered with the Northern Illinois Food Bank to deploy the Mobile Food Pantry 10 times during 2016.  “Hunger in the communities we serve is very real and the Northern Illinois Food Bank rises to the challenge of feeding our hungry neighbors each and every day” says Watershed President Casey Pristou. The Northern Illinois Food Bank provides 6 meals for every $1 of financial contribution. “We like working with the Northern Illinois Food Bank because every dollar counts. There is no waste,” Pristou added. The food bank’s Mobile Pantry takes the fight against hunger to a new level. The Mobile Pantry is a unique tool strategically used to combat hunger in what are commonly known as “food deserts.”  These are areas that are either underserved or not served at all by grocery stores or traditional food retailers. Typically, the only place for residents to get food in these areas is at gas stations or liquor stores. The Mobile Pantry is an oasis of relief in these food deserts. On a typical deployment the Mobile Pantry delivers 10,000 pounds of nutritious food, including meat, fresh produce, bakery goods and non-perishable food to approximately 200 families in need. See more photos here. About the Northern Illinois Food Bank The Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB) is a non-profit organization providing food to more than 600 network partners – food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and youth and senior feeding programs – in 13 counties.  More than 500,000 people each year rely on the food provided by the NIFB to meet their basic nutrition needs.  Essentially the NIFB represents a community of donors, volunteers, supporters and programs with a common goal of feeding our hungry neighbors.  NIFB is a member of the Feeding America network of food banks and has received the Charity Navigator 4-Star rating for eight consecutive years. About Watershed Development Corporation Watershed owns and operates Aaron’s (NYSE – AAN) stores throughout Northern Illinois and Iowa. Aaron’s is a leading rent-to-own company with more than 2,000 company and franchise stores throughout North America. Watershed, a franchise operator since 2004, has earned the distinction of being an Aaron’s Top 5 Performing Franchise Operator multiple times since its inception.