Volunteers Step Up in Time of Crisis

The Nassers, a Yemeni American family who live in the city’s Sauganash neighborhood, started volunteering at the Food Depository about six years ago. Over the years, they have also helped out at a partner pantry near their neighborhood.

In March, the heightened need caused by the pandemic prompted a greater demand for volunteers. While his job was temporarily on hold, Naser Nasser started coming to the Food Depository nearly every day to pack emergency food boxes, often with his two daughters.

Volunteers are the very lifeblood of the Food Depository’s work. They help us repack food in our warehouse and distribute food to our neighbors out in the community. We even have volunteer drivers who drive our trucks and, in the summer, our Lunch Bus, which is our mobile summer distribution.

That’s not to say the scene in the warehouse didn’t changed during the early months of the pandemic. The typical clusters of volunteers repacking bulk orders of rice, pasta or fresh produce were replaced with spread-out assembly lines for preparing boxes of food. These boxes carrying 20-30 pounds of shelf-stable items were distributed to families across Cook County facing the economic impact of the pandemic.

Volunteering is considered an essential service during the COVID-19 pandemic, so community members who are healthy and able can still serve those currently struggling to put food on the table. To keep everyone safe, the staff implemented extra precautions including limiting the number of volunteers per session, implementing age restrictions, maintaining social distancing, and increased cleaning and sanitizing of our facility.

We’re proud of our staff and volunteers for doing work that’s truly essential – feeding our neighbors in need.