When the pandemic hit in 2020, so many of our neighbors, especially our elderly neighbors, found themselves especially vulnerable and at-risk. In an effort to help keep them home, safe, and well-fed, we started partnering with Chicago CPD and a few other organizations to start delivering groceries from our weekly food pantry right to their homes.
Around the same time, a few members of the Alexian Brothers religious community started to come to help volunteer at our food pantry. They saw the incredible need, had the time and resources to help, and within a short time, a new idea was born for a partnership between our two communities. Each week, we pack and provide bags of groceries that the Alexian Brothers then pick up in their van and deliver to our seniors and home-bound neighbors who are in need. The Alexian Brothers bring so much more than just food, however. They also bring with them the love and presence of Jesus, spreading hope to so many who sit in darkness or seem forgotten by the world. The brothers take the time to visit with each person they visit, often praying with them, offering encouragement and spiritual counsel, and sometimes even bringing Holy Communion to the sick and homebound.
The Alexian Brothers recently produced the incredible video below highlighting their partnership with our food pantry. Please watch to get an inside look at all of the wonderful ways they have been able to be the hands and feet and heart of Christ to our neighbors who are most in need.