A Trip to the Food Pantry with UofC Quest Scholars
Events, Hyde Park, Kenwood, University of Chicago No Comments »
Courtesy of Hyde Park Union Church
When my alarm clock went off yesterday at 7:45am, I started to rethink my plans for the day. My eyelids refused to open, my body ached, my pillows were invitingly fluffy, my plush blanket perfectly warmed me. Why in the world should I leave this temporary heaven? Maybe I could send the organizer an email saying that I “woke up with a sudden flu and can’t make it.” But then again, that would mean I’d have to get up and turn on my laptop, defeating the purpose of not waking up.
At this point about five minutes had elapsed. I dragged myself out of bed and by 9:00am, I was standing outside the Reynolds Club with four very-fatigued UChicago Quest Scholars. The five of us embarked on our approximately three-block journey to the Hyde Park Union Church on 56th Street and Woodlawn Avenue, where the weekly food pantry takes place. This event precisely is why we willingly chose to wake up so early on a Saturday morning. Of course at the time it sounded like a great idea.
Our quintet was assigned to package bags, unpack boxes, help people outside with their bags, and handle paperwork. For the next three hours, I put four cans of chicken noodle soup into each of what seemed like 300 paper bags. As I was opening the plastic of the soup containers, I couldn’t help but be saddened thinking that these tiny soup cans were what some people survived on for weeks at a time. Of course the bags contained an assortment: spaghetti sauce, vegetables, pasta, fruits, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, and saltine crackers. Yet still, I couldn’t fathom a three-member family living on twelve cans of soup for a week, in which normally 21 meals are consumed. This is not to say that the food pantry wasn’t doing a good job—that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Sadly, this is the reality of all food pantries across the world. But the Hyde Park Food Pantry promises: “We will not run out of food, and we will never turn a person away. That’s what a safety net is.”
The Hyde Park Union Church Community Food Pantry, along with the Open Kitchen (a soup kitchen) and the Health Clinic, is part of a service initiative called the Hyde Park & Kenwood Hunger Programs, started in 1981 to help local residents in need. 2007 marked the first year the Hyde Park Union Church participated as administrator of the Hunger Programs, after a few years of economic inefficiency. The food pantry receives monthly donations from food distributors around Chicago and is essentially run by volunteers from the neighborhood. One day a month, a soup kitchen is set up at one of various churches to serve a free hot meal. Four weekly meals are prepared by local volunteers. The Health Clinic allows for residents to see a publicly-funded nurse practitioner every Monday and volunteer nurses every Friday, for discounted appointments. Although these programs are run by churches, the work is nonsectarian.
By 1:30pm, I was exhausted from endlessly carrying heavy bags up stairs. At the same time, I felt accomplished. Seeing people thank me whole-heartedly for giving them food was enough to get my tear ducts working.
To volunteer with the Hyde Park & Kenwood Hunger Programs, visit the following website: http://www.hpuc.org/Other/Hunger%20Programs.html
