With outside support from many organizations and institutions, GCFD began operating from a warehouse space located at the South Water Market donated by Strube Celery and Vegetable company and received financial support in the form of a start-up grant from none other than the great City of Chicago. So timely in responding to the rising hunger crisis situation, by the end of their first year of activity alone GCFD distributed over 472,000 pounds of food received from approximately 22 food donors to over 85 affiliated agencies. Recognizing the significant role the GCFD organization could play, Springfield soon took notice by passing the Good Samaritan (GS) legislation to shield organizations like GCFD from potential legal liabilities.
As demand and need for its services rose, so did its operations. Immediately after the GS law GCFD experienced a significant operating expansion in all fronts: a five-fold increase in terms of food donors (111), close to a four-and-a-half-fold increase in affiliated agencies (375) and put together yielded over a thirteen-fold increase in donated foods (6.1 million pounds). By 1984 GCFD moved to a much bigger and new location at 4501 South Tripp Avenue. To meet the changing need of its clients locally and the surrounding countywide region, it began developing an array of programs with each targeting a specific need in the subsequent years. What follow is a partial list of the many activities and services within those programs:
_ 1993, the Produce People Share Program to address the needs for fruits and fresh vegetables in the community.
_ 1998, Chicago’s Community Kitchens to serve as a free culinary job training program for unemployed and underemployed adults.
_ 2007, Mobile Pantry Program to respond to the need on nights and weekends.
_ 2010, Healthy Kids Markets in schools and summer Lunch Bus meal distributions at community sites.
_ 2013, a weekly food pantry at Jessy Brown VA Medical Center to expand outreach to veterans experiencing food insecurity.
Those are some of the programs already in place to address specific needs arising in the surrounding communities. With the expansion of programs come the needs for manpower to help keep these activities running. To attract volunteers, GCFD on a monthly basis has released a list of activities to be staffed by volunteers. Date, time and nature of activities are often listed as well.
Based on a shared value within the Naitiah Group (NG) for community service and the opportunity offered by GCFC in meeting the community’s needs, NG concluded that as a fitting occasion to lend its support in accompanying GCFD in their effort. Prior to the onset of Covid-19, NG members had participated in about two GCFD volunteering sessions. Those times were priceless as they offered us the opportunities to work as teams and to rely on each other as partners and to not second guess one another.