Valerie Kahan stood in the Evanston Township High School parking lot Sunday afternoon trying to figure out more places to send food, toiletries and other supplies she and others had been taking in from hundreds of donors in the few hours they had been accepting them.
At one point, the sheer number of donors coming to drop off supplies stretched down multiple streets from the school’s parking lot, prompting Evanston police to turn off a traffic light at Lake Street and Dodge Avenue. Many waited more than an hour to drop off bags of groceries, and some offered up extra space in their vehicles so others could leave the line early while still donating.
Two dozen locations had already been picked — pantries, schools, parishes, free fridges and others across Niles, Skokie, Evanston and the Rogers Park neighborhood — but they were starting to fill, so other organizations were contacted to arrange pick-up. More than 100 people had also arrived in search of resources, and they left with bags of fresh produce, eggs and more.
“This is beyond anyone’s wildest imagination in the best possible way,” Kahan said. “It’s overwhelmingly amazing, and we just want to make sure we get food to people who need it the most.”
Since Saturday, nearly 2 million Illinois residents — 42 million nationwide — have been without Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits as the government shutdown continues, though two federal judges separately ruled on Friday that the Trump administration must pay for November’s SNAP benefits using contingency funding.
The Trump administration has until Monday to decide whether it will fully or partially fund the food assistance program. President Donald Trump said he would but wanted more legal direction from the court, which won’t happen until Monday, so it wasn’t immediately clear how quickly the debit cards that SNAP recipients use to buy groceries could be reloaded, as it can take as long as 14 days.
The supply drive came as federal immigration agents continued to loom over Chicago-area residents through the Halloween weekend, detaining at least five people on Friday as they fired pepper balls and tackled people to the ground in several North Side neighborhoods and suburbs, including Evanston.
“Coming together is the solution always, and after having our community completely traumatized, this is extremely healing work to be doing, and we’re not only healing ourselves, but feeding our community,” Kahan said.
Evanston residents Valerie Cronkhite and her husband Travis arrived with a wagon full of “baby stuff” and their daughter Cora, though they soon found themselves volunteering as donors were recruited to help handle an ever-increasing haul of supplies.
They had just come from the local Valli Produce where they said shelves were quickly emptying as people cleared them to make donations. “Evanston always shows up,” she said, but this was “insane.”
They had been at a Saturday night vigil put on by the city in the wake of federal agents and helicopters descending on the community, as videos circulated of agents punching a handcuffed man in the head and threatening to arrest a woman in her car.
“This is a small, small way to help. There’s a lot more we can do,” Valerie Cronkhite said. “There’s so many battles we’re fighting right now. … The reality is this is gonna be a long fight, and we all need to be in it.”
Food assistance was the main draw, but the event overall served to build community and continue to expand mutual-aid networks throughout the city and suburbs. Know-your-rights cards and whistles were being passed out along with food and toiletries.
Mariah Fouche, a Niles resident who grew up in Rogers Park, got in touch with the organizers through rapid response networks working near her Logan Square shop Monarch Thrift Store, which has also been taking in food donations for Chicago Hope Food Pantry, as well as others nearby. Despite it being her day off, and having worked for other supply drives in recent days, she showed up to help the community she grew up in and to meet others who were doing the same work.
“It isn’t strenuous to me,” Fouche said. “This is joy.”
She suggested involving one’s kids and friends in mutual-aid events going forward as a social way to get people involved.
“Whether it’s your neighbor being abducted or your neighbor that doesn’t have access to food, it’s still going to impact your community, but people showing up here keeps us safe,” Fouche said. “There’s mutual-aid events like this going every weekend going forward. There’s no reason anyone should be bored right now. … We need to stand up and do what we can for each other because no one is coming to save us.”