CBS 2, United Way partnering for 'April Food Day'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's a massive operation meant to help families in need.
Thursday is April Food Day - an annual food distribution event - and CBS 2 is proud to partner with the United Way to tackle food insecurity.
Our Jackie Kostek is hopping on the CBS 2 trolley and traveling throughout the south and southwest suburbs to collect food collected by high schoolers.
A distribution plant in Alsip is serving as a storage center for food that was collected over the weekend by 100 high schools in the area.
Some of those high schoolers will be with us this morning loading a lot of food onto a trolley. They collected enough food to fill this semi-trailer.
That food will be distributed to people who need it through 10 different south and southwest suburban pantries. And when you talk about the need in our community, a 2022 report from the Chicago Food Depository shows 1-in-6 households in the Chicago area experience food insecurity. That means they don't know where their next meal is coming from. That need has only grown since the pandemic and with inflation and the high cost of food.
In partnership with United Way, we're working to meet the needs of our neighbors. Today, we're just collecting but tomorrow on April Food Day, this food will be packaged for distribution.
