CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago community organizations came together on the Lower West Side Saturday to send newly arrived migrants into the New Year with a full stomach.
“Everything you need, we have it,” said local chef Michael Airhart. “We just want them to come into the New year with a good, hot, amazing meal.”
Airhart, the founder of a local nonprofit called Taste for the Homeless, told WBBM that this hot meal — served on a very cold sidewalk outside the migrant shelter on South Halsted Street — matched his organization’s mission: Who are we as human beings if we ignore the suffering of others?
Founded in 2015, Airhart has long served the local population in need and was among the first on scene when buses filled with migrants first began arriving in 2022. On Saturday, his team provided a Chicago-style, pre-New Year’s meal to remember.
“We have everything from soul food, baked macaroni, green beans, spaghetti, corn muffins [and] mac and cheese,” he said.
After dozens of the new arrivals got their hot meal, they were given as much packaged food as they stuff inside of their bags and backpacks.
Airhart said his pop-up cafés, which are funded out of his own pockets and through donations, are there for anyone who needs it.
“No strings attached,” he said. “We don’t want your IDs; we don’t want to figure out who you are — none of that. We just want to feed you.”
He’s among the growing number of community members who are willing and able to help — but who are still waiting on that call from the City to bring all of these organizations together for a more coordinated response to this humanitarian crisis.
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram