Miracle at Union Station

The holiday season is a particularly busy few months at the Greater Chicago Food Depository and our 650 member food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. But no matter how busy it gets, there is always something that reminds us of why we do what we do. It could be speaking with a family that will have a holiday meal because of a local pantry; a thank you note from a supporter; or the dedication of our volunteers. Last Tuesday, Food Depository staff and volunteers witnessed another truly amazing movement to end hunger in our community during our first-ever Union Station Food Drive.

Food Depository volunteers help assemble the collection bags for the Union Station Food Drive.

Through a partnership with BOMA, Food Depository staff and volunteers had the opportunity to distribute paper grocery bags during the Monday evening rush-hour on Dec. 13. The bags included a simple instruction sheet with most-needed food items. Commuters were asked to fill the bags and return them the next morning.

The response was astounding. In a matter of hours, the Food Depository had collected more than 6,000 pounds of food, making the Union Station Food Drive one of the most substantial collections of the year.

The Food Depository collected more than 6,000 in a matter of hours at Union Station on Dec. 14.

Thank you to everyone who made this possible—especially everyone who donated. Watch as One City, One Food Drive partner Fox Chicago was there to capture the action.

If you missed the Union Station Food Drive, it's never too late to organize one of your own! Visit www.every1can.org to get started.

Columbia College's 8th Annual Holly Jolly Trolley food and fund drive benefits the Food Depository

Today, for the eighth consecutive year, Columbia College will use a trolley and the air waves to raise food, funds and awareness for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The Holly Jolly Trolley is making its return to collect nonperishable food as the college’s WCRX 88.1 FM radio team broadcasts live from the lobby of the 33 E. Congress Parkway building all day.

Along with seasonal holiday tunes, special guests include Santa and his elves, area choirs and performers. All food and funds collected directly benefits the Food Depository’s network of 650 member food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters.

If you are in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by or tune in throughout the day.

Making Music Matter

For the second straight year, the Food Depository benefited from Charter One’s summer-long Making Music Matter initiative. And, for the second straight year, I volunteered at one of the concerts at Charter One Pavilion on Northerly Island.

This year’s concert series was meant to raise awareness and funds for our Mobile Programs, of which Charter One, through a donation by the Charter One Foundation, is the Lead Corporate Supporter.

I volunteered for one of the first of the 17 concerts this summer: 311 and The Offspring. This concert also had a food drive component, where concertgoers were urged to bring canned food donations into the show and donate at the Charter One tent. The person who donated the most got a prize pack of 311-signed memorabilia.

I admit, I was a little glass-half-empty on the food donations we would get during the show because we were a little behind spreading the word. But 311 and Offspring fans proved me wrong. The winner brought in more than 120 pounds of food. In this case, I don’t mind being wrong.

The only bad thing about Making Music Matter was that I couldn’t volunteer for more of the concerts. I’m still kicking myself for not volunteering for the Stone Temple Pilots concert.

At the conclusion of the series, which ended a few weeks ago, concert goers helped raise more than $12,000, with the Zac Brown Band concert bringing in a series-record for donations raised (nearly $950).

Keep up with Making Music Matter all year on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Getting Connected with our mission

It's kind of weird when people thank me personally for helping to feed hungry people in Chicago. After all, I work on the Internet most hours of the day. Sure, I help share our mission and help bring in funds, but I don’t have any illusions that the Internet itself can steer a truck into our loading dock or give a bag of groceries to someone. I don't witness people struggling with hunger, struggling to make the tough decision of rent or food this week. Our member food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens—as well as those working in our warehouse—witness this every day.

That's why we have a program here called Get Connected, to help get out from behind our desks and experience what goes into hunger relief.

I worked the “Salvage” line recently, just one of the many tasks offered through the Get Connected program. The Salvage area is where all the food collected from food drives comes in, is sorted by quality and expiration, repacked and then distributed to our member agencies.

Heading into this time of year, the food drives start to add up (more than 500 will have been hosted from now through the end of this year). That’s a lot of food to go through, and I’m happy to pitch in. But it can be quite the task.

A conveyor belt whisks by with everything from canned baked beans and boxes of pasta to jars of pickles and juice boxes. I happened to be on tomato sauce/paste and canned vegetables that day. Thankfully, the items going past me have already been inspected for quality and expiration date, otherwise, this task would be nearly impossible. It was three hours of standing, sorting and lugging 40-pound boxes of canned food onto another conveyor.

Your back and legs can’t help but be a bit sore after the job, but being able to get my hands dirty, get in there and do a little manual labor, it’s worth it. I’m working with the food that our community donated so others less fortunate can have something to eat today. That's not something to take lightly.

I’m writing this a few days removed from Getting Connected, and thinking back, having a sore back from helping feed hungry people—well, that actually feels pretty good.