UNIVERSITY TO PROVIDE MEAL PREPARATION AND DELIVERY

The University of Chicago will prepare 3,000 meals a day, seven days a week, until June 12 to South Side residents in need. Photos courtesy of University of Chicago
The University of Chicago will prepare 3,000 meals a day, seven days a week, until June 12 to South Side residents in need. Photos courtesy of University of Chicago

University to provide meal preparation and delivery

BY TIA CAROL JONES

The University of Chicago is doing its part to support the needs of residents on the South Side during COVID-19. One of three measures the university launched recently in March involves providing meal preparation and delivery to South Side residents, in partnership with Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Derek Douglas is the vice president for civic engagement for the University of Chicago. He said the idea to prepare and serve meals comes from the University of Chicago’s active partnerships in the community.

“We have a pretty significant presence in terms of civic engagement, programming and effort. And so, as a result of that, we have good relationships with the alderman and a lot of organizations. And, all of that enabled us to have a pretty good sense of what some of the needs are, the most pressing and acute needs in the community,” he said. “And, when COVID-19 was hitting the university, we were seeing the impact, we were feeling it, but we knew that our community around us was feeling it very heavily, so we wanted to do some things to try to help out in ways that we can leverage what we can do.”

Douglas said one of the things they heard was the whole issue around food security and the need for people to have meals and food. Because the campus was closed and students were sent home, the dining halls were empty.

“It provided the infrastructure that we could use to provide meals, and instead of serving students, have a meal provided to the community. So, we looked at it, how it could be done, what we could produce,” he said.

The university reached out to the city to get connected to their food programs and got connected with the Greater Chicago Food Depository. And, they decided to do the partnership.

The university will use on-campus dining facilities to prepare meals in various locations to nine communities on the South Side including: Douglas, Grand Boulevard, Grand Crossing, Hyde Park, Kenwood, Oakland, South Shore, Washington Park and Woodlawn. The university will provide 3,000 meals a day, seven days a week, through June 12.

Douglas said it wasn’t something the university was asked to do, it was something they came up with internally.

“We view ourselves as a citizen of the South Side of Chicago. This community is our community,” he said. “A third of our employees that work at the university live on the South Side. And so, we’re always trying to think about things we can do, ways in which we could support the community.”

Douglas said as the largest anchor institution on the South Side of the city, it was clear the university had to figure out what to do to address the needs of the residents during COVID-19. He said food rose as the most pressing issue for the community.

According to Douglas, the reaction has been very positive, but it wasn’t done for a reaction, he said.

“I think there’s been a tremendous amount of appreciation and it kind of validates the need that’s out there. I think it’s allowed us to create and develop new partnerships through the Greater Chicago Food Depository,” he said. “In a lot of ways, doing this built on a foundation of relationships we’ve been working very hard to develop over many years. But, it’s helping to even strengthen and deepen those further. And, I think hopefully, demonstrating for folks how committed the university is to being a good partner of the South Side and the city more broadly.”

In addition to the meal preparation, the university is supporting small businesses and their employees through a grant program, as well as supporting nonprofits with bridge funding.

For more information, visit coronavirusupdates.uchicago.edu/community-support.

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