Sara’s Diary, Day 86 without baseball: Supply drive

One of the benefits of living close to Wrigley Field is that neighbors get a lot of notifications from the Cubs on special events and projects in the neighborhood that don’t generally get a ton of coverage. In normal years these emails include notifications about special events at Gallagher Way, often including discounts and special offers. But these are not normal times and Gallagher Way has been closed since mid-March.

Friday afternoon as I was finishing up work I received one of these emails from the Cubs letting neighbors know that Cubs Charities was partnering with Chicago Cares to collect groceries and supplies for non-profit organizations on Chicago’s South and West Side. It seemed like the least I could do to help this week, so after work I headed to a nearby store and stocked up on as much toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitizer and peanut butter and jelly as I could carry to the Camry Lot on Grace Street.

The moving truck carrying goods was about half full when I got to the lot on Friday. They were still accepting donations Saturday morning and images like this this made my week:

The supplies gathered during this drive will support Bright Star Community Outreach, Chicago Youth Programs, Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation, Latinos Progresando, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council, Northwest Side Housing Center, Southwest Organizing Project and Teamwork Englewood. If you weren’t able to participate this weekend and want to help, be sure to click on any of the links above to find additional opportunities to support these organizations.