September is Hunger Action Month, a time when community members can recognize and support their local food pantries who continuously provide food for people in need. The Feeding America organization has a September calendar of events to get closer and support local food pantries. Illinois has eight food banks that supply some 200 food pantries. There are 60,000 food pantries in the United States, to put that into perspective the McDonald's Corporation says they have 14,300 locations across the U.S.

Amy Hagen Co-Coordinator with the Taylorville Food Pantry says September 10th, is Hunger Action Day, a good time to reach out to someone you know who donates their items or time to benefit people in need.

Volunteers are always welcome at the Taylorville Food Pantry, Hagen says citizens do not need any specific skills to be helpful. Local people can simply step up to help by showing up to the TFP on a donation day.

TFP has been undergoing a change in their patron documenting system, switching each household over to the new system one at a time. Hagen asks for patience during this process and says the new system looks to help better understand the needs of the area by keying in on demographic information.

Days of service at the Taylorville Food Pantry are Tuesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Thursdays from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The TFP is located at 1429 East Main Cross Street in Taylorville.

Amy Hagen appeared as a guest on the WTIM Morning Show.