Why I Walk: Sandra Gillespie

Pastor Sandra Gillespie has been attending the Hunger Walk for the past eight years.

In anticipation of the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s 29th Annual Hunger Walk on June 21 at Soldier Field, we’re asking people what motivates them to take a step towards ending hunger. In the first entry of the series, Pastor Sandra Gillespie, of Chosen Tabernacle Ministries in Grand Boulevard, writes about why she’s walking June 21.

It’s hard out there. It really is. The numbers at our food pantry are through the roof. More of my clients than ever are working, but they still can’t feed their families. We feed men, women and children. We feed parents who can't make a living wage, older adults who struggle on a fixed income, and everyone in between.

I’m walking so that everyone in Chicago, in Cook County, knows that the people we serve exist. I’m walking because we need to end the misguided thinking that hunger does not happen in this community, because it does.

And I’m walking because we must feed hungry people, and the Hunger Walk is an excellent way to do that.

The Hunger Walk is our largest fundraiser of the year. We bring about 100 people – volunteers, clients, members of the church. Last year, we raised nearly $2,000. Our pantry isn’t a big operation. We have to really hustle throughout the year to make it work, but with the money we raise, we can sustain the pantry and we can get food to the people who need it in the Grand Boulevard community.

For more information or to register for the Hunger Walk, visit chicagosfoodbank.org/hungerwalk.