Pop-up food pantries serving Chicago neighborhoods hard-hit by COVID-19

CHICAGO - The Greater Chicago Food Depository is organizing pop-up food pantries on the South and West sides.

Over the next five weeks, the pop-up food pantries are going to be strategically located in parts of the city that have been hard-hit by COVID-19, and where large numbers of residents are food insecure.

“We wound up mapping out the food insecurity areas geographically and we overlayed what we were seeing from the Department of Public Health with respect to confirmed cases,” said Nicole Robinson of the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Based on that mapping, you can expect to see the pop-up food pantries in 10 different neighborhoods.

“The food depository is basically the anchor that provides the food and provides the technical support that provides the help to these organizations, but really it's the organizations that are leading that work,” Robinson said.

Each location is expected to serve between 500 and 1000 families. Each visit, you will be given a 20 to 30 pound box of shelf-staple food, a meat such as frozen chicken breast, and a bag of produce with 7 to 10 items.

The pantries will be set up outside to allow for social distancing, and each family's allowed one visit per week. Some locations will also be giving out masks.

“If you've never had to seek out assistance in this way, it's kind of overwhelming to know what to do, so we thought these pop-ups would be a great idea to raise visibility,” Robinson said.

Most of the sites will stay open between two and four hours, or while supplies last. If you are traveling on foot, or by public transportation, you are advised to bring a cart and for a full list of times and locations, go to chicagosfoodbank.org.