Workers at the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Joliet were surprised Monday afternoon with lunch and a sizable donation courtesy of Chick-fil-A.

As part of the restaurant chain’s commitment to combating hunger, Chick-fil-A has selected 22 food pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens to surprise with $25,000 grants this holiday season.

“We started in October and are going to continue through the end of the year,” said Katie Rouse Perkerson, Chick-fil-A’s external affairs advisor for the Midwest.

Recipients were chosen randomly from Chick-fil-A’s network of supported organizations. The chain partners with Feeding America and local food banks regularly and donates $25,000 to a local food organization each time a new restaurant opens.

Two new restaurants directly benefited the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Joliet this year, one in Frankfort and the other in Joliet, directly across the parking lot from the food bank facility on Larkin.

The owners of both of those stores were present for the check presentation on Monday, and the Joliet store provided meals for pantry staff and volunteers.

“We are very grateful for the opportunity to help and cheer on the work that is happening here,” said Kris Yoder, the owner and operator of both of Joliet’s Chick-fil-A stores. “We love the community and are very grateful to be a part of it.”

The Larkin location just opened on Aug. 21, while the Frankfort location opened its doors on April 3.

Along with the two Will County locations, Chick-fil-A has opened three additional stores in Illinois this year and those benefitted chapters of the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

“It’s been a particularly challenging time for us,” said Northern Illinois Food Bank President and CEO Julie Yurko. “Between inflation, and SNAP benefits being held back, and the long government shut down, it’s been a hard time for people who don’t have enough. Food pantries run on the goodness of others. This generosity from people and companies like Chick-fil-A makes everything we do possible.”

Northern Illinois Food Bank provided 93 million meals worth of food in 2024 across 900 partner organizations in 13 counties. Sixty percent of the pantry’s resources come from donations from businesses, individuals, foundations, and community groups.

“One of the things I love about our partnership with Chick-fil-A is we aligns so well,” said Yurko. “Their founder’s motto was ‘cared for people care for people,’ which is what we try to do.”

People who seek help from the food bank “are courageous,” she said.

“They’re making a hard to decision to get help at a difficult time, and we try to get them that help in a way that is dignified and convenient for them. We have a lot of love for the people who support the food bank, but it’s great to work with a company that cares so much about people,” Yurko said.

In addition to attending the donation delivery with Perkerson, Yoder’s store provided meals for the food bank’s staff and volunteers for the day, including fresh chicken sandwiches, cookies, and waffle chips.

“We have volunteers in and out here all day who are very dedicated,” said Yurko. “This group doesn’t often get as much attention and love as our headquarters in Geneva, so this is really fun to see today.”

Yoder added, “We want to be a great neighbor and bring some hope and value to the area. We love Joliet and serving this community.”

In addition to their contributions to the Northern Illinois Food Bank, Joliet’s local Chick-fil-A stores partner with Morningstar Mission and Family Outreach Program through Chick-fil-A’s Shared Table program, which donates prepared food that would otherwise go to waste to shelters and soup kitchens across the country in an effort to fight hunger and remain environmentally-friendly.

The grant, which was awarded to the recipient organizations at random, comes at a time when Yurko said there is increased need at local pantries and less resources from government funding for organizations like the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

In 2025 under the Trump Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reduced government funding to food banks, which makes up between 10 and 15 percent of the Northern Illinois Food Bank budget, by a third.

As of Monday, a new initiative had been announced for the USDA to purchase $30 million worth of citrus fruit from American farmers and donate it to food pantries nationwide.

“We’re keeping an eye on everything,” said Yurko, who noted that demand has been up in 2025, with 623,000 people utilizing the organization’s services in October, and demand increasing by 26% in the first half of November.

With changes in eligibility for SNAP coming in March 2026 and increases in insurance premiums, the food bank is expecting a possible increase in demand of up to 80,000 people per month.

“It breaks my heart when I see a country as great as ours not loving people, especially at this time of gratitude,” Yurko said. “Government programs make a real difference in our neighbors’ lives; we can’t make up for something like SNAP, but what we do do can’t happen without partners like Chick-fil-A.”