I coordinated volunteers and drove a long van (now deemed unsafe due to being prone to tip on its side) and a short bus to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which is located near Chicago’s Midway airport. The present facility’s size will boggle your mind! Philanthropist Ann Lurie donated money to help construct the building, and the road leading to the GCFD is named “Annie Lurie Way.” Just before turning onto this street off Pulaski, one will drive past the Burger King where LaQuan McDonald was murdered by a Chicago Police Officer who is now in jail.
I stopped driving and volunteering because I wanted to distance myself from the sponsoring church and its toxic environment. Lately, I have been volunteering at a food pantry operated out of the Grace Covenant Church in Chicago’s Irving Park neighborhood. Yesterday I was responsible for bagging canned goods: spaghetti and meatballs from a Chicago company; tuna from Houston; chicken from Georgia; red sauce from Ohio; beef stew from Chicago; and salmon from China. Volunteering is a refreshing and rewarding experience. I worked next to Paula, a grandmother born and raised in the Dominican Republic. Her son is currently based in Seattle by the DR Navy. Paula’s extended family all still live in the DR.
Food pantries in the Chicago area have had set geographic boundaries to serve their clients. However, due to the pandemic, an anonymous philanthropist has donated a lot of money to buy food for the underclass. We are now distributing frozen meat (primarily pork and chicken) and fresh produce, which was extremely rare when I drove volunteers. The donor stipulated that residency restrictions should be lifted…because the need is so great. This little pantry regularly distributes food to over 90 households, serving well over 300 people who significantly trend as Hispanic.
Ann Lurie also donated a bunch of money to the highly-acclaimed Children’s Hospital in Chicago, which is now named The Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Having said that, I send my utmost appreciation to the anonymous donor that has contributed money to help feed Chicago’s hungry!
– Mark Erickson
