As part of Giving Tuesday,1,500 food kits were assembled Dec. 2 at Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation and soon will be distributed to households who need them.
United Way of Metro Chicago and BMO organized the effort. The food will go to those who are in need in the community, according to Darnell Shields, executive director of Austin Coming Together, which is based at the Aspire Center and helped to open the building. Shields said food kits, filled with healthy and organic items, will be distributed to people who access resources at the Aspire Center and through ACT’s external partners.
Participants in the food-packing event were encouraged to write an encouraging note to include in every bag they packed, “just to bless someone with your words and hopes,” Shields said.
United Way of Metro Chicago and BMO’s food kit packing aims to address food insecurity in the area.
East and West Garfield Park, and North Lawndale, are among the most food insecure neighborhoods in the city. According to Chicago Health Atlas, nearly 34% of North Lawndale residents are food insecure, and the same with over 35% in West Garfield Park and 37% in East Garfield Park. In Austin, over 26% of residents are food insecure.
And with national SNAP benefits on hold in November, food insecurity in Chicago has spiked in recent months.
According to United Way of Metro Chicago’s 24/7 health and social service helpline, 211 Metro Chicago, food assistance requests to the helpline were up 149% in the first two weeks of November, compared to the first two weeks of October.
To address food insecurity in the area, on Dec. 2, about 100 volunteers packed the kits, marking an event that launches BMO’s annual giving campaign.
“It was great to host that at the Aspire Center and have that be a central location for the kickoff,” Shields said, “having this awesome asset that our community now leverages for a lot of good.”
He added that, when he gave some remarks at the food kit packing, “I reinforced the ideal of partnership, what it leads to, how it allows us to amplify the good things and be able to do more than any one of us may be capable of.”
