Schaumburg AM Rotarians personally shopped for, packed and delivered 15 boxes filled with non-perishable food items to the Willow Creek Community Church’s Care Center in support of that organization’s Build-A-Box program whose published goal was to fill 10,000 boxes with food.
Club member Tim Gerhardt spearheaded the club's participation in this service project.
The Build-A-Box program was launched to address the gap between the acute need for food and the food supply available to meet that need, due to the economic fallout created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Willow Creek provided boxes to those wanting to support this effort along with a shopping list of specific items needed to fill those boxes that included canned goods, pasta, rice, peanut butter, jelly and more.
Willow Creek’s Care Center, located in South Barrington, IL, has seen a significant increase in food insecurity since early March and now provides food to more than 1,100 households weekly. They also partner with the Greater Chicago Food Depository who helps them feed approximately 960 of those households.
Before the pandemic began, more than 37 million people, including more than 11 million children, lived in a food-insecure household, meaning that those households do not have enough food for every family member to lead a healthy life.
Coronavirus increased the number of food insecure households due to the sudden spike in unemployment coupled with school closures since mid-March. Children from low income families often qualify for free and reduced cost school breakfast and lunch programs. With schools closed, local school districts and community based organizations have had to re-invent student feeding and food distribution programs in response to the need for nutrition assistance.