Worth Township To Host Emergency Food Distribution Event

ALSIP, IL – Eamon McMahon was just taking over as Worth Township supervisor in March when the coronavirus pandemic was just setting in. Although the township’s food pantry already had a steady number of clients it served on a weekly basis, the past four months have demonstrated to McMahon that more families are struggling with food security as uncertainty continues to impact local residents.

The township has partnered with the Economic Development Strategies Corporation to provide an emergency food distribution that will take place beginning a 2 p.m. Thursday in the parking lot of the township hall, located a 11601 S. Pulaski Rd. in Alsip. The event will continue until the food supply is gone, but McMahon hopes that distribution will continue as a supplement to the food pantry service the township is already providing.

The need to help families with food has steadily increased since mid-March and McMahon said that up to 50 families a week are now showing up at the pantry for assistance. In response, the township has expanded its food pantry to accommodate the growing need and McMahon hopes that Thursday’s event will also be a way the township can increase the ways it helps local residents.

“People are feeling the pinch right now,” McMahon said on Tuesday. “(Need) has been on the increase and we’re going to do our best to respond to it.

“It’s just typical of our situation. This is part of the stress that we’re all under right now. For me, it’s really important to try to keep our community together and help out the neediest among us. That’s what we’re here to do.”

Before March, EDSC – which is based in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood – was not involved in distributing food. Instead, it assisted businesses get off the group and helped people find meaningful work. But when some of their importers and suppliers found themselves with perishable food they couldn’t distribute when restaurants starting shutting down due to the pandemic, EDSC started a Food For Hope program that has hosted 23 food distribution events and has assisted 15,000 families.

Alex Esparza, the organization’s president, said that the need has been eye-opening as EDSC attempts to use its resources to help others.

“With the uncertainty of what we’re dealing with, we’re almost flying blind,” Esparza said Tuesday. “That’s a very scary thought…this whole notion of not knowing (when things will end) is scary and no one knows where things are going.”

The uncertainty carries over to local food pantries, which have, in some cases, been forced to shut down because they are unable to keep up with the need in their communities. Now, as Worth Township attempts to help as many local families as possible, McMahon hopes Tuesday’s food drive will be just the beginning.

“It’s a really good way for us to get started on this and see if this is something we can continue to do,” McMahon said. “I think this could become something regular if (Thursday’s event) goes off without a hitch.”