Tag: donations

How Summer Hunger is Impacting Kids

It’s finally summer in Chicago! Kids in our community are free to play, explore, and have fun with their friends, but some will experience the “summer slide”. According to Feed the Children the summer slide happens when kids do not get the nutrition their bodies and minds need to keep developing and their abilities and knowledge regress instead of progressing over summer. 

For every four kids you see at the park laughing and playing tag, one will go home to a fridge and pantry with little to no food. 

It’s a sobering reality when we think about the fun of summertime and the mix of stressed-out parents trying to figure out how to provide enough nutritious food while struggling to make ends meet. 

Families that are enrolled in SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) have some help with paying for groceries, but during the school year, their kids are most likely receiving free or reduced breakfast and lunch at school. 

While this injustice is frustrating and saddening, you can help make a difference in the lives of families in our neighborhood. 

Through June 30, all donations up to $10,000 will be doubled, thanks to anti-hunger champions, Ted and Dawn Helwig for their match challenge. Every $1 = 16 meals. Make a difference with a gift, today.

The Friendship Center can provide a family with free fresh food and pantry items twice a month. There are no income requirements or address restrictions. We can also help families enroll in SNAP, Medicaid, and refer them to other local agencies for additional vital resources. 

Additionally, we need more friends to volunteer and help us serve the growing number of neighbors visiting the pantry every week. There are volunteer shifts every day of the week at various times. Sign in to the volunteer portal and select a time that works for your schedule.

We are grateful to be a part of a caring and generous community who seeks to alleviate hunger and help their neighbors whenever they can.

Utilizing The Food Pantry Increases Buying Power for Neighbors

Neighbors shopping at the best free grocery store in town – The Friendship Center, are walking away with an average of $160 worth of groceries. This spring, one of our student volunteers, Cora W. price compared what our neighborhood grocery stores would charge for the food that neighbors select for free during their pantry visit.

As a student, Cora is not worried about paying for housing or food but she’s learning through her classes and volunteering at TFC, that affording life’s basic necessities is costly. Cora shared, “we did a budgeting activity last year in school. It was really helpful to see all the pieces we have to put together to live. The price comparison project showed me this as well. And if we can make the puzzle a little easier for someone, I want to be part of that.”

As Cora was doing her research at local grocery stores she noted, “how hard it can be to find food in a grocery store, especially if you don’t know the layout well. A well-organized list helps.”

In addition to navigating prices and layouts of grocery stores, all of us have felt our dollars getting us less and less food when we go to check out. Our neighbors facing hunger are no exception, Cora also noticed, “while doing the price comparison project and seeing just how much food costs right in front of me, it was hard to imagine spending this much money on what I eat every week.” Your investment at The Friendship Center through donating, volunteering, and raising awareness helps alleviate neighbors from their tight budgets and allows them to redirect the $160 – $320 they are saving to other costs like utility bills, medicine, childcare, and beyond.

The Friendship Center has continued to serve more neighbors in 2024 than ever before, with a 35% increase compared to last year. To continue to provide access to fresh food and vital resources we rely on volunteers and donations to meet the needs of our neighbors.

Lincoln Square Animal Hospital Shares Pet Food and Supplies Donations

Lincoln Square Animal Hospital often receives pet food and supplies from their clients and distributes those donations to other organizations and individuals in the community. They became an ongoing partner with the Friendship Pet Food Pantry (FP2) in November 2023.

Practice Manager, Sylvia has been critical at coordinating ongoing food and supply donations to our pet food pantry. Sylvia shares that LS Animal Hospital partners with the Friendship Pet Food Pantry because, “we want people who need the donations to receive them and we align with FP2’s mission of keeping Chicago families and their pets together.”

Lincoln Square Animal Hospital is located at 4501 North Lincoln Avenue Chicago, IL 60625 at the intersection of Sunnyside and Lincoln in the Lincoln Square neighborhood. They serve around 800 pets every month.

Sylvia shares, “we want our clients and patients to feel at home and welcome. As pet parents ourselves, we know precisely how important yours is to you. We take pride in our client service and we design treatment protocols that are tailored to your pet’s specific needs. Our staff takes pride in helping our fur patients.”

Thank you Lincoln Square Animal Hospital for your ongoing commitment to our community and helping Chicago families and their pets stay together.

The Power of a Dollar

In today’s economy there is not much you can do with a dollar, let alone five dollars. It’s rare to afford a convenience meal or a drink from a coffee shop for $5 or less today too.

However, The Friendship Center has optimized our dollars making it possible for donated dollars to go further.

Through our food rescue program, we partner with local grocers: Jewel, Mariano’s, Tony’s Fresh Market, Costco, and GoPuff to receive a variety of items each week and prevent avoidable food waste. We receive a weekly order from the Greater Chicago Food Depository of canned items, fresh produce, dairy products, eggs, meat, and fish.

Supportive neighbors also host food drives and we receive donations from urban farms, gardens, and bakeries.

Due to the quantity of food that is donated to us every year, donated dollars are able to amplify the mission by supporting operating costs, providing access to vital resources and purchasing food.

At The Friendship Center, $1 = 8 meals

How the math breaks down: We take the total pounds of donated food we receive in a year and divide that by our operating expenses to distribute the food, and it comes out to 9.5 lbs per every dollar. Every meal is roughly 1.2 lbs.

When you donate to The Friendship Center, every dollar is being optimized to foster hope and dignity and provide access to food and vital resources to our neighbors facing hunger.

Give today to ensure our neighbors have access to fresh food and vital resources this year.