Food insecurity is at an all-time high, with many families experiencing work outages, disruptions to SNAP benefits, and high prices at the grocery store. Our Rapid Response team at Catholic Charities is poised to help, uniting with the Archdiocese of Chicago to help feed our hungry neighbors.  

As Cardinal Blase Cupich recently stated in a letter to parishes, “In these difficult days, we are called to be a light in the darkness. The recent government shutdown, looming spending cuts, and heightened immigration enforcement have placed millions of our neighbors at risk of losing access to food and other essentials. As a result, food pantries across our Archdiocese are under great strain. We cannot stand idly by. We stand with our neighbors through their struggles.”  

In partnership with the Archdiocese of Chicago, our team is reaching out, connecting, and building a network to deliver food to 40 Catholic food pantries in Cook and Lake counties. Together, these pantries serve 24,500 households each month — one of the largest groups of food pantries in our region. Catholic Charities is helping the Cardinal’s Harvest of Hope food drive at parishes throughout the Archdiocese by collecting the food parishioners are donating, and then sorting and distributing it across the Catholic network of food pantries with the help of volunteers. We’re also raising funds to purchase fresh produce, proteins, milk and eggs, to supplement donations for each of the pantries.  

These food pantries have told us they are seeing a 25% increase in new households visiting a pantry for the first time. Many of these pantries could not plan for that substantial increase in demand in a short time. We’re supporting the work of the parishes and the generous Catholics across Chicagoland who are supporting their neighbors.  

There are so many other Catholic pantries that need our help this month, and we need yours. If you’re interested in participating by bringing non-perishable food items to your parish, making a gift to Catholic Charities, or volunteering to help sort and distribute food, visit  https://www.catholiccharities.net/give/help-us-build-hope/  If you’re not part of a parish but still want to contribute, please email us at [email protected]  

This time of year, many of us are thinking about others and being grateful for what we have. As Christians, we have a call to give, and it’s truly a gift to give to others. We’re witnessing this desire to give in the response from parishes and the Archdiocese, which is really beautiful. It’s inspiring and humbling to be part of this network that is so generous. We invite you to help us build hope for those in need.   

Nicole Meeuwse Tiénou is the Director of Community Impact for Rapid Response for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago.