Wrigley Field Gets Ready To Serve As A Local Food Pantry Outpost
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Wrigley Field is often buzzing right around now, with the gates about to open for a ballgame.
But a different team is playing at the Friendly Confines on Thursday.
Instead of Vienna Beef hot dogs and ice cold Budweisers, the Wrigley concourses will soon be fully stocked with food for the Lakeview Pantry.
There is plenty of space to pack food and get it ready to be distributed to people in need.
Cubs Charities is sponsoring the effort to reach out during the pandemic.
People can pick food from Lakeview Pantry at Wrigley Field beginning Saturday April 18 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., then every Tuesday and Saturday from 12:00-2:00 and arrive at the Wintrust Right Field Gate (located at the corner of Sheffield and Addison.)
As Wrigley Field serves as a distribution center for Lakeview Pantry, and as the stay-at-home order continues, at least through the end of April, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said games at the Friendly Confines won't take place anytime soon.
"We're a long way away from that," she said.
The mayor, along with other political and civic leaders, was at Wrigley for the announcement. When asked what the cost of the COVID-19 crisis on the city of Chicago, Lightfoot said it's too early to tell.
"It's too soon for us to be able to calculate the entirety of the impact on the city. We know we're expected to spend in excess of $100 million dollars which is what we've been saying," Lightfoot said. "But once we're able to have a better handle on what our estimates are rather than the actual outlay are, then we'll have a better sense of that.
WORKING TO OVERCOME HUNGERWORKING TO OVERCOME HUNGER: Mayor Lightfoot joins Chicago Cubs owners Tom and Laura Ricketts for a visit to a new Lakeview Pantry satellite site at Wrigley Field #EndHunger.
Posted by Chicago Mayor's Office on Thursday, April 16, 2020