Seed of Hope Food Giveway Planned for Saturday
The Seed of Hope Food Pantry of New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church, located at 740 E. 77th St., will distribute Thanksgiving Food Baskets from 9 to 11 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 23 along with the church’s Women’s Ministry.
“The food basket giveaway is our annual event that we’re doing in conjunction with our food pantry,” said Carlene Scales Lilly, director of the Seed of Hope Food Pantry.
The food pantry is currently open from 9 to 11 a.m. on the second and fourth Saturday of the month.
The pantry is scheduled to give away 500 food baskets and 432 turkeys to those who show up on a first-come, first-served basis.
“Some of the bags will include a turkey and some will not as we only have 432 turkeys to give away,” Scales said. “Walmart donated 20 turkeys and we purchased the other 412. We contacted the Greater Chicago Food Depository and we’re hoping to get our agency number in the next couple of weeks.
To receive a food basket, citizens must present some form of identification with a current address, such as an Illinois driver’s license or state identification.
“We do require some form of identification but we will not turn anyone away if they don’t have it,” Scales said. “We need the identification for our client database. Our boundaries are from 75th Street to 83rd Street, north and south and King Drive to Stoney Island, east and west.”
Rev. Stephen Thurston, pastor of New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church said churches are stepping in to fill the gaps for those who are poor and cannot afford basic necessities.
“We’re first responding to the church’s responsibility to reach out to the poor and provide food to our community and neighbors,” Rev. Thurston said. “Secondly, we’re responding to what congress has done by cutting food stamp benefits and ignoring the fact that there are more people in need of food in this day and time.”
According to information gathered in a study by the Greater Chicago Food Depository, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for families to make ends meet, and many people are finding themselves skipping meals or cutting back on the quality or quantity of food they purchase for themselves and their families.
The major cause of the increase in the number of Americans seeking emergency food assistance is due to the recession, according to information from Greater Chicago Food Depository website. In Chicago, unemployment rates reached 11.6 percent on Oct. 2009, up from 7.2 percent, one year prior. Some communities like Chicago Heights have seen unemployment rates rise to 15.9 percent, one of the highest levels in Illinois.
A snapshot of who the Greater Chicago Food Depository serves:
• 37% are children under 18
• 9% are children under 5
• 6% are homeless
• 34% of households include at least one employed adult
• 22% of households report their main source of income is from a job
• 47% of households say they have to choose between paying for food and utilities
• 44% report choosing between paying for food and rent or mortgage
For more information about The Seed of Hope Food Pantry or the New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church, please call (773) 846-3700 or visit their website at http://www.newcovenantmbc.com/home.html.
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