This week Jen and I went back to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, and we took our friend Vicki with us. It was her first time, and we had a great time. We worked on the flex line again making individual emergency food boxes (for more information about the GFCD and how the flex line works, see my post from our first visit HERE), but this time I got a spot putting raisins in to the boxes. Vicki worked with me as a replenish-er and Jen worked on the back line doing clean up. She loves that job because she gets to race around and be effective in a bunch of different places. I liked my job because I got to stand in one place and chat with Vicki. The raisins are the last thing to go in the boxes before they get labelled, weighed and taped up, so it was pretty easy - no special place in the box the food had to go or particular way it had to sit, just toss the 9 oz. package of raisins on top.
Since this was not a new thing for us, I had the presence of mind to stop and collect a little more information about what we were doing and about the GCFD. I also took a couple pictures, which you will find below. Today was a little bit of a slow day with the volunteers. We had to stop the line more than last time, and so we packaged only 1,110 boxes of food, adding up to about 27,756 pounds of food. Remember, these are boxes that are distributed by the city, through the Department of Health and Human Services to people with a sudden, unexpected lack of food. They are meant to feed a single person for three to four days. This time through, I made some notes about what was in the boxes.
The boxes look like this when they are full:
They contain: Corn Flakes, oatmeal, a can of pinto beans, a can of baked beans, a can of spagehtti and meatballs, a can of beef stew, a can of chili, a can of sardines, a can of tuna, a can of tomato soup, a tub of drink mix (Kool-aid), two bags of rice, a bag of raisins, a large box of saltines, a box of macaroni and cheese, a can of peaches, a can of applesauce, a can of green beans, a can of mixed vegetables, a can of chicken noodle soup, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of grape jelly and three packets of powdered milk.
This all adds up to about 25 pounds of food, although it is worth noting that there is nothing fresh here - no real milk, no eggs, and no produce. Obviously it would be impractical to prepare those things the way that these boxes are prepared, but it means that the people who need and receive these boxes also need additional help.
Fortunately, the GFCD also works with partners like the Lakeview Pantry (see week 5, part II HERE) to fill in the gaps left by what these boxes cannot provide. This week I found out that the GFCD moves more than 69 million pounds of food through its warehouse each year, meaning they move well over one million pounds per week. The food they collect, process and distribute goes to 678,000 people each year in the Chicago-land area. It is sent to food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens all over Cook County, in addition to being packed into these rescue boxes for individuals and other, larger rescue boxes for families. The volunteers who come and work throughout each week at the GCFD save the need to hire 45 additional staff positions, thus allowing the GCFD to put more resources into getting and delivering food.
The Depository guarantees its partners that is will have 18 different foods reliably available at any time. This is to ensure that the food being given to those in need is comprised of a balanced and healthy mix of food products. This picture shows all of the food that make sure to always have in stock:
The list of these foods looks like this:
I also thought you might like to see how what the flex line looks like, so I shot some pictures of that:
And just give props to a really hard working guy, this is a picture of Milton. He wrangles all of these people and teaches them how to run the flex line a very short amount of time. He is incredibly friendly and patient, and it is clear that he really enjoys his work.
To sum up , we had another great day at the GCFD, and as soon as we finished working, we got online to book another day to volunteer, but not until May. We have lots of other places to visit too, after all.
If you like what they are doing at GCFD, they can always use your help. You can find them at:
The Greater Chicago Food Depository
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