CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A Pilsen food pantry is looking for a new, permanent location and is counting on donors to get there.
“The need is tremendous. We are the only food pantry in East Pilsen so this location means a lot to us,” explained Dr. Evelyn Figueroa, family physician and cofounder of the Pilsen Food Pantry.
The Pilsen Food Pantry has a donor who will match a GoFundMe campaign up to $100,000. So far, it’s raised more than $26,000 with the campaign slated to run until Oct. 31.
“We’re hoping to amass enough money to finance the building either outright or to secure enough to make a mortgage feasible for us. We have a donor who’s willing to match up to $100,000 so every dollar that anyone donates will be matched,” Figueroa, who is also the director of the food pantry, told WBBM Newsradio.
Figueroa and her physician husband, Dr. Alex Wu, started the food pantry in 2018 as a simple shelf connected to her practice four years ago.
“I was really disappointed that my patients had such poor access to healthy and nutritious foods,” she said.
When COVID-19 testing began at Figueroa’s practice on 18th Street and Ashland Avenue, the food pantry was moved to the former Holy Trinity Croatian Catholic Church owned by the Archdiocese of Chicago on 18th and Throop streets.
“We put in an offer to buy the building and they are in the process of reviewing and returning a counter-offer to us, and we’re similarly looking for another property in the same neighborhood.
“It’s a deconsecrated church and they’re not sure what the future of that building holds so they can’t make a very big commitment to us,” Figueroa added.
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The food pantry is open Monday through Friday and also has a free clothing program which is available on Sundays.
Figueroa said the pantry also offers medical supplies, free physical therapy twice a week, a community garden, a free book program and food delivery services.
She said healthy foods can help make her patients less likely to need some medicines.
“Food is medicine and we know that every year that someone is food insecure they increase their risk of developing diabetes by 10%. We know that, if you’re food insecure, you’re more likely to be obese,” Figueroa explained.
She said the average visit to the food pantry nets people 60 to 80 servings of fruits and vegetables each plus frozen meats and dairy products.
The Pilsen Food Pantry helps 1,400 families each month.
You can find out more about the GoFundMe campaign here.
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