Within a year’s time, Pete Schaefer watched as the Northern Illinois Food Bank’s demand for services surged 44 percent.

To put that in perspective, the organization had helped distribute 1.8 million meals in the last six months of 2011. In the last six months of 2012, the organization had helped distribute 2.5 million meals.

“Unfortunately, the need is great, and it’s growing,” said Schaefer, president and CEO of the Northern Illinois Food Bank. “In 2008 and 2007, [the economy] went down hard, and we’re just not seeing it recover.”