At least once every quarter the Rotary Club of Darien and volunteers made up of individuals and local organizations gather at safety village in Darien, Illinois to unload boxes of shelf stable food and setup for packing into bags. The bags are loaded into storage bins which will be distributed to local schools. Some examples of food commonly packed are:

• Ramen Noodle Soup
• Cheese and Crackers
• Cereal
• Macaroni and Cheese
• Juice boxes
• Raisins

This is a great opportunity to lend a hand and bring you or your group out for a short evening of worthwhile work and friendship. A typical packing session will take about 90 minutes and starts at 6pm. If you would like to help please contact Joan Wayman at joan@joanwayman.com.

We need your help to expand the program to cover all of the at risk children in our area. On April 5th starting at 6pm, the Rotary Club of Darien will be holding its annual Taste of Route 66 Fundraiser at Carriage Greens Golf Club primarily to raise funds to support the Backpack Food for Kids program, as well as to raise additional funds for other local, national, and international programs, such as Shelter Box, Darien DYC scholarship program and NAMI DuPage, to name a few. Area restaurants will be providing a sampling of their menus. There will be a cash bar and the event will feature silent and live auctions. 

Tickets are $40 and can be purchased by visiting tasteofroute66.org. 

Taste of Route 66

You can also provide your assistance by making a direct donation online or participating in our online silent auction.

100% of your donation will go directly to the purchase of food to be placed in an undernourished learners backpack. No donation is too small. One child can be fed for less than $4 for one weekend. We are currently providing this service to 160 undernourished students for an entire school year. We have an additional 250 identified and estimated that the additional students in need in our service area area alone over 400.

Donations can be made by clicking Taste of Route 66.