A line of folks waiting to pick up groceries at a North Side food pantry wrapped around the block Wednesday.
“It’s sad, there’s a lot of people here looking for help,” said Javier Aranda, 49, as he waited in line at the Irving Park Community Food Pantry, which operates out of Emmanuel Methodist Church, 4256 N. Ridgeway Ave.
The food pantry served 75 families before the pandemic and now serves more than 200 — a number that’s expected to more than double again in the days and weeks ahead.
The good news: volunteers and donations from businesses and residents are up, too.
A group of Chicago police officers have been lending a hand. They were marshaled by Officer Marco Acevedo, who lives in Old Irving Park and saw an alert in a neighborhood newsletter calling for volunteers.
Acevedo also plays for the Knights — the CPD baseball team — and thought: “I’ve got a whole baseball team. I’ve got access to 25 or 30 guys.”
His teammates answered the call, as did members of a CPD women’s soccer team.
“We’re blessed. We’re policemen. We’ve got a job, a pension ... so this is unbelievable to be able to help out,” Acevedo said.
Fannie Mae, a grandmother of four, stood in line and imagined the smiles on her grandkids’ faces as they chomped on the food she planned to bring home.
“This weekend, with this here stuff, they’re going to enjoy themselves,” she said.
John Psiharis, executive director of the food pantry, said volunteers are greeted with “tremendous gratitude” from people suffering anxiety from looming car payments, food shortages, job loss and other factors.
“Many people are hurting. Many who never in their wildest dreams ever thought they’d need a food pantry, all of a sudden, find themselves unemployed,” he said, adding that a social worker is on site during food pantry hours to offer additional help.
As the pandemic took hold of Chicago, a large portion of regular volunteers who are elderly and more at risk to the coronavirus stayed home, leaving food pantry organizers looking for additional help.
“We now have about 100 volunteers, which is more than we’ve ever had,” Psiharis said.
The pantry is open Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to noon and on the second Tuesday of each month from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
It serves folks from the 60641 zip code, as well as people in the 60618 zip code, if they live west of Kedzie Avenue. It offers an emergency supply of food meant to last families three to five days.
The pantry also delivers to homebound clients once a month and provides pet food, Psiharis said.
