Rockford Neighborhood Market

WCM was held at the Northern Illinois Food Bank’s Northwest Center, located at 765 Research Pkwy in Rockford, off Kishwaukee Avenue near the airport.

However, we are relocating to 1397 Sandy Hollow Rd, Rockford, the former location of K-Mart.

Please visit our Rockford Relocation page for further updates.

Parking is available in the parking lot directly in front of the Northern Illinois Food Bank located at 1397 Sandy Hollow Rd in Rockford.

No, you do not need to come early to get in line. In fact, you will wait less and still get the same amount of food if you come an hour into the distribution. (See above for market hours.)

We cannot let you in the building early for any reason, including to use the restroom.

No, but if you wait and come later into the time we are open, you will be able to come right inside and will not have to wait in line outside.

We define a household as a group of people who live in the same place and share food. If you live in the same place and do not share food, you are separate household.

You can shop once a week during any of the two days we are open for shopping. (See days and hours above.)

Yes, having SNAP (a LINK card or formerly known as Food Stamps) or any other benefits does not prevent you from shopping at any food pantry.

Yes, having a job or any income does not prevent you from shopping our food pantry.

We do not offer appointments to shop in our pantry. You may arrive any time within our open pantry hours.

Yes, but a supervisor must schedule your volunteer hours. Please speak to one of the Supervisors when you come to shop. If you sign up online without Supervisor approval, you will not be guaranteed to shop on the day you sign up to volunteer.

Yes, each pantry has their own policies on how often you can shop and what documentation you need to bring. (See below for information about what you need in order to shop at the Neighborhood Market.)

The Kishwaukee line has stops directly in front of the Northern Illinois Food Bank on Sandy Hollow Rd.

For more information: Please Visit this Link

If there are barriers set out to designate a gathering area, please join the gathering area. Otherwise, please wait by the front door.

We are a client choice pantry, which means you can shop for as much food as you need for your household that week. There are certain items that may have limits, and we ask that you abide by those. Otherwise, you may take what you need for that week.

Yes. You can also click here to find the closest food pantry to where you live.

No, please bring your own shopping bags or boxes to pack your groceries in.

Yes. The person shopping for you will need to submit an EFP Proxy form (see below for EFP information) with your signature on it prior to shopping for you. Your proxy can pick up a proxy form at the market.

Yes, you may shop as a Proxy. (See previous question for requirements.)

Our Neighborhood Market is a Federal Emergency Food Program (EFP) site. By shopping here you are self-attesting that you meet the income guidelines. You do not need to provide any proof of income.

We do not require documentation of any kind to shop. You have the right to remain anonymous if you so choose. The only required information needed for each household is: number of adults and children in the household, if you do or do not receive SNAP, and zip code.

No. See previous questions about documentation needed to shop.

The Neighborhood Market is an Emergency Food Program (EFP) site, which provides USDA food items. To receive EFP food items, the Neighborhood Market is required to gather limited information about your household and collect your verbal self-attestation that your income is at or below the posted threshold based on your household size. For household information required, see “What documents do I need to shop?” above.