Greater Chicago Food Depository

from using the same toilet as an infected person and admitted they avoided public restrooms because of this. Helping eliminate the fear that comes with unfamiliarity and having the opportunity to better inform attendees on safe practices that might save some from sickness, gave me all the incentive I needed to volunteer my spare time to study and teach on this disease. It was impossible to go to college without being reminded of poverty as I walked past the deteriorated Chicago public housing projects to get to class. Those with hollow stares, begging for change, had a more profound effect on me than most of my studies. So, I started posting flyers and organizing food and clothing drives that filled trucks with supplies for the Salvation Army and the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Soon after I was elected President of the Student Alumni League, a group dedicated to volunteer work. My sister, Jeannette, was in the Dominican Republic (D.R.) as a Peace Corps volunteer at the same time I was running the food drives. She often told me her classroom didn 't have basic materials and her students had never seen a map of the world. My mom and I had sent her packages that never arrived so I booked a ticket, packed my bags, and headed to the D.R. My trip ended with a two week stay in the hospital after I contracted multiple infections. There were times I could not get out of bed and support my own weight. As an adult, I had never been helpless and disabled; it left me…

As hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans everyday face the threat of hunger, the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s primary mission is to not only holistically address this issue across the city, but also work collaboratively with public schools, individuals and other partners in the area to combat food insecurity. Along with food drives and orchestral concerts that this organization participates in annually, one of the most important events that the Chicago Food Depository runs is the 31st…

Connecting the Community through Food Scraps (Mid Term Goal) Whether or not UIC decides to utilize an anaerobic digester to process food waste a portion should be captured for compost production. This could be used to cut costs on landscaping compost needs, for expansions of UIC’s Heritage Community Gardens, and to provide compost for local community gardeners. A vacant lot on UIC’s west side provides a opportunity to turn a desolate field that separates organizations into a community…