If you are an avid follower of all the great things we do here at Food For Friends, you know we love to distribute Blue Bags filled with food. And those we serve love to receive those Blue Bags around Thanksgiving time.
So, we thought.. how about we distribute our Blue Bags around Easter with all the food items that a family would need to have a meal to celebrate Easter? We accomplished that this weekend.
On Saturday, April 3, 2021 Food For Friends was blessed to distribute 400 Easter Blue Bags to much needed families. This was not an easy task, however with teamwork all is possible. The event was such a success.
The food items and frozen chickens arrived early Saturday morning (four pallets) at the San Miguel Gymnasium. Twelve volunteers from the Chicago Rugby Club arrived to assist with the set-up, assembly and distribution of all the bags. We filled the Blue Bags with items for an Easter meal such as frozen chicken, boxed mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, canned vegetables, brownie mix, rice, beans, and other goodies.
The day was sunny and windy. It was perfect to set up outside as a walk up/curb side distribution in the San Miguel parking lot. The volunteers distributed the Blue Bags and frozen chickens to the Back of the Yard community, Moms from the Fellowship Housing Program and West Side Community within two hours. The volunteers were happy and eager to assist.
All families receiving this special Easter delivery of food were so thankful. We heard many stories from families in need that were not planning to have a special Easter meal for their family. With this gift of food, they were now able to plan a special meal.
For this event, all Covid-19 protocols were taken to keep everyone safe. All volunteers left with warm hearts, knowing they provided a special Easter meal to 400 families.
We have many people we need to thank for this event.
A special thank you to Linda for her involvement in procuring the food items and the special card and candy that was included in all the bags.
Thanks to Karen, a long-time Food For Friends volunteer, for being the co-lead for this event.
Thanks to Danielle from the Rugby Club for coordinating the volunteers,
Thanks to Trudy and Phil, also from the Rugby Club, for their involvement in making sure all the bases were covered,
Thanks to Naela and Lincoln for their Quality Control Assistance
Last, but not least, thanks to all our donors for their generous support.
This event is proof again that when everyone comes together with a passion for a serving event, we can accomplish anything.
Happy Easter everyone!
Christina Chacon
For more pictures from this event, go to our album on Facebook titled 2021-04-03 400 Easter Blue Bags