Demand growing at food pantries

A troubled economy and rising unemployment has increased demand at local food pantries, with no sign of relief any time soon. The Illinois Department of Employment Security reports that in Lee, Whiteside and Ogle counties, the unemployment rate rose by more than 2 percentage points this year. County unemployment rates that hovered around 5 percent last year are now between 7 percent and 8 percent. Northern Illinois households needing assistance from food programs, however, increased 42 percent since December 2007, according to a news release from the Northern Illinois Food Bank. "We're seeing a lot of middle-class families who have never needed food pantries before coming in," said Jarrod Daab, NIFB's associate director of development. "Peo