Feed the Hungry & Help a Community
Donation protected
At about 6 a.m every Wednesday a line of people wraps around outside St. Columbanus Church in Chicago. Most are armed with a well-used metal cart -- at least the people who are not new to the St. Columbanus Food Pantry, the largest pantry in Chicago. On this particular cold January day, the situation is no different. Men and women of all ages wait outside until the pantry opens four hours later at 10 a.m. While they wait, a group of volunteers works inside a nearby garage separating food and packing bags.
Despite the food pantry being run and operated by a Catholic church, its services help everyone in the Park Manor neighborhood regardless of religious affiliation. St. Columbanus must exist and must open its doors everyday to provide services like this to a community that often only gets remembered when there’s a neighborhood shooting or tragic death. The volunteers and patrons alike describe how essential the food pantry is to the community.
In 2016, the food pantry fed 13,976 children under age 18 and 11,668 households. And it feeds on average 500 families each week.
And the parish doesn't stop at providing food. They are trying to grow their Community Services Center, which provides GED and job training, as well as other types of counseling and assistance to the community to help people change their lives for the better.
Why am I involved? I heard the stories about how people there sometimes feel alone and like no one is there to help. I'm a firm believer that in order for the system change, people of other segments of the community must cross over the invisible lines and help each other through money and volunteering.
The money would be used to help fund the food pantry and community services center, as well as repair the leaking church roof -- an essential gathering space for the community. Your donations would mean a great deal to me and to this community because it would show that we are all in this together, regardless of beliefs, geography or economic background.
I need your donations by June and am also looking for those individuals, companies and/or foundations that would be willing to match any of the donations.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Olivia
Despite the food pantry being run and operated by a Catholic church, its services help everyone in the Park Manor neighborhood regardless of religious affiliation. St. Columbanus must exist and must open its doors everyday to provide services like this to a community that often only gets remembered when there’s a neighborhood shooting or tragic death. The volunteers and patrons alike describe how essential the food pantry is to the community.
In 2016, the food pantry fed 13,976 children under age 18 and 11,668 households. And it feeds on average 500 families each week.
And the parish doesn't stop at providing food. They are trying to grow their Community Services Center, which provides GED and job training, as well as other types of counseling and assistance to the community to help people change their lives for the better.
Why am I involved? I heard the stories about how people there sometimes feel alone and like no one is there to help. I'm a firm believer that in order for the system change, people of other segments of the community must cross over the invisible lines and help each other through money and volunteering.
The money would be used to help fund the food pantry and community services center, as well as repair the leaking church roof -- an essential gathering space for the community. Your donations would mean a great deal to me and to this community because it would show that we are all in this together, regardless of beliefs, geography or economic background.
I need your donations by June and am also looking for those individuals, companies and/or foundations that would be willing to match any of the donations.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Olivia
Organizer and beneficiary
Olivia Clarke
Organizer
Chicago, IL
Matt O'Donnell
Beneficiary
