As hundreds of thousands of people descend upon Grant Park for Lollapalooza next week, a team of volunteers will be working behind the scenes at the festival fighting food insecurity in Chicago.
It's all done by a group of volunteers with the Phoenix-based nonprofit Musically Fed, founded by Maria Brunner. She said the idea came to her during her early years in the music industry, when she worked on tours for big names like The Beach Boys, Eric Clapton and Earth, Wind & Fire.
"It just killed me to see two things: One, that food wasn't going to somebody that could use it," she said. "And there were no compostables. There was nowhere to throw it in that bin that there is now at many venues so that it could be reused."
In the United States, one-third of all available food goes uneaten through loss or waste.
That's why Brunner founded Musically Fed, which works with artists, promoters, management and venues across the country to rescue and repurpose unused artist and crew catering, VIP meals and excess concessions.
At Lollapalooza, Musically Fed volunteers will be on-site all four days of the festival working at crew and artist catering tents.
"We just pop in, talk to the chef, talk to the workers: 'Anything left from lunch?' If there is, we help them pack, wrap, and then there is what's called a 'polar cooler' that is nearby, and with volunteers that help us throughout the day, we will load all that into the polar cooler."
Volunteers then deliver the meals to Chicago-area organizations supporting unhoused individuals, veterans, women in crisis and low-income families. Some of these include Deborah's Place, Pacific Garden Mission, Care For Real and Lincoln Park Community Services.
Brunner said this is the organization's fifth year partnering with Lollapalooza and that Chicago is a huge market for them. Over the past four years, their presence at Lollapalooza has resulted in the donation of almost 30,000 meals to Chicago-area nonprofits.
But despite the long-standing partnership with the festival, Brunner said there are still a lot of people who don't know about the state of food insecurity in the country and the work Musically Fed is doing to address it. She said this is partly due to a lack of media coverage and a lack of marketing on Lollapalooza's part.
"If you don't talk about it and you don't feature it, you're not going to know about it. And if you don't know about it, you can't help it," she said.
And while food insecurity and advocacy might not necessarily be at the top of mind for those attending Lollapalooza, it's an issue everyone should care about, Brunner said.
"One day, it could be them" she said. "It probably is their neighbor. It's probably the older couple that lives down the street. It's there. It's around them. They may not want to see it or maybe they don't know about it."
That's why she said spreading awareness and mobilizing others in the fight against hunger in Chicago and beyond is so important.
"You can do this in your own house," she said."Go look at your shelves. What aren't you using? Take it to the food pantry. Find out the closest one."
Brunner said she hopes she the work Musically Fed is doing inspires others to take that step.
"Chicago is loaded with people that can help, truly," she said. "Understand the power, the magical power you as a human being [have] to help someone else. Oh my gosh — it goes to infinity."
Those looking to volunteer with Musically Fed can find more information here.