Chicago Food Pantry

On a sunny, warm autumn afternoon, three brothers ages 15, 12 and 11 would rather a..) toss a football around at a park b.) watch college football or c.) spend two hours in a warehouse helping to box 43,000 pouches of instant breakfast for pantries and soup kitchens? Laura and I took our boys to the club's project at he Greater Chicago Food Depository and they were a little wary of hours of manual labor. But they enjoyed it and worked feverishly for two hours, trying to outpack other tables even though no one was keeping track of each table's output. By the end of the afternoon they were a little tired but entirely satisfied. I think they got an idea of the need out there and understood if somebody doesn't volunteer the work doesn't get done and families get by with even less. 

Jay Copp

Volunteering at the Greater Chicago Food Pantry with my son Elliot (age 7) and my husband Dan was fun for all of us.  Elliot enjoyed loading up the table with packets, and Dan made a math game with Elliot out of grouping the packets.  It was a simple way to do something together as a family that will actually help someone else.

Anne Northrup