'They just need help' – Amid inflation, food pantry benefits South Side residents
CHICAGO (CBS) – With food prices surging and some neighborhood lacking grocery stores, a local agency hosted its first food pantry in Englewood on Wednesday.
CBS 2's Shardaa Gray went to the Ada S. McKinley Community Services pantry to see how its helping curve hunger.
With cares wrapped around the corner near 61st Street and Wentworth Avenue, the need for help with groceries was crystal clear.
Jimmie King Jr. arrived at the pantry around 8:30 a.m. and was the first person in line.
"I'm really blessed and the people of this community are really blessed for this to be going on," King said.
The Englewood food pantry aims to help 250 South Side residents get enough food.
"We got proteins. We got vegetables," said Jamal Malone, the chief executive officer at Ada S. McKinley. "We're making sure we have access to nutrition in response to this community change with grocery stores leaving Englewood."
The agency has been around for 102 years serving South Side residents and is hosting its first food pantry pop-up event.
"While we were planning it, we did identify that people have had to make some tough decisions," said Eric Edquist, the senior vice president at Ada S. McKinley. "Whether it's putting gas in their vehicles, getting groceries, insurance, health care, whatever it is. So we thought this was a perfect way to help the community."
King said hundreds of South Side residents are struggling with high grocery prices and food insecurity after the recent closures of big-name stores.
"Oh there's definitely a need with the inflation and the way the economy is going," he said. "This is exactly what the people in this area need because of the closing of the other major stores like Whole Foods and then we had Aldi in the community, with the prices, everybody is laid off. They just need help. We all need help."
King added he hopes to see more food pantry pop-ups in the future.
"This is a great thing what they're doing here," he said.
On Wednesday, the agency met its goal of helping 250 people. Organizers said they anticipate doing more pop-up events in the future based on the day's turnout.