Illinois food banks rush to distribute 315,000 gallons of milk

SPRINGFIELD/DAVENPORT, Ia. (Illinois News Network) — There will be no shortage of milk for hungry families in Illinois – in fact, there may be too much. Food banks across Illinois are facing a unique challenge. They have just a few months to hand out over 315,000 gallons of milk. The United States Department of Agriculture is donating the milk because it wasn’t sold due to the tariff tit-for-tat. Mike Miller with the River Bend Food Bank in the Quad Cities said the challenge is to make sure that none of the milk goes to waste. “If food banks would have gotten to choose how to do this, we would have probably spread it out over a length of time,” Miller said. “Because once that comes in, it has to be distributed quickly.” Miller said his food bank is trying its best to let hungry families know that there is more than enough milk for the taking. “We stock 300 food pantries across our 23 counties. Usually, we would allocate that to them, or just put it out there and let them take it,” Miller said. “But, in this case, we’ve let them know about it. We’ve told them ‘Whatever you want is yours.’ ” The USDA donations will start to arrive this week, and will keep coming through March. Reporting by Benjamin Yount