The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated 70,000 pounds of food — enough to fill two semitrucks full — to feed families who have food insecurity in Chicago, Illinois.
Volunteers from the Church and other organizations gathered Sept. 11 through 13 to organize the food into grocery bags and distribute the donations to more than 1,000 families.
Each family received two bags of dry goods and one bag of dairy products and frozen meat.
The service opportunity was held at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters in Chicago and listed on JustServe.org, where volunteers could find information about joining in.
The JustServe platform is a free website and app where community organizations list their service needs and where volunteers can find service opportunities around them.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who founded Rainbow PUSH Coalition, was present at the service on Saturday, according to a news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The coalition was formed in 1996 with a mission to “protect, defend and gain civil rights by leveling the economic and educational playing fields, and to promote peace and justice around the world.” PUSH stands for “people united to serve humanity.”
The Rev. Jackson’s son Yusef Jackson, who also serves as the coalition executive director, said his father was happy to see people at the September event serving as the Savior would.
“It put a smile in his heart,” he said. “Feeding the hungry — the mission directly from Jesus Christ — is important to us. We believe this is our duty to continue to serve. All four Gospels mention Jesus feeding people.”
One mother who received food said it will be a bridge between grocery shopping and having to buy necessities.
“So I’m able to get other things instead of food with the money that I need,” said Shonnell Hampton. “It literally helps me put food on my table for my son.”
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints strive to follow the two great commandments — to love God and love one another.
Service like feeding the hungry is “the gospel in action,” according to Chicagoland JustServe representative Matia Marcucci.
“Serving in our community is the way that we love God and love our neighbor,” Marcucci said. “It’s been a lot of work but a really fulfilling, fantastic experience to work shoulder to shoulder with some amazing people here at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition who are committed to loving and serving their neighbors and to making sure that families don’t go hungry.”
Marcucci said members of the Church have been looking for ways to collaborate with the Rainbow PUSH Coalition to serve in the community.
“Food insecurity was the thing that came up,” she said. “We thought, ‘Let’s do something in September when kids are going back to school.’ Families need to be fed, and we need to make sure they are taken care of.”
The Rev. Bobby Lewis, Rainbow PUSH Coalition chief of staff and pastor of the Joy Life Center church in Chicago, spoke about how service for others strengthens one’s relationship with God and neighbors.
“It is this type of work that [helps us] understand who we are with God and who we are with one another,” he said.
He also thanked the Church for helping Rainbow PUSH Coalition carry out the vision of the Rev. Jackson.
“Change happens here at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition — change for our people, change for our cultures,” the Rev. Lewis said.
Elder Steven D. Shumway, General Authority Seventy, joined in the service. He and his wife, Sister Heidi Shumway, served as mission leaders in Chicago from 2019 to 2022.
“I love Chicago, and I lived here,” Elder Shumway said. “Today I get to meet another brother.”
The Rev. Lewis said these service projects can bring the nation and world together at a time of division.
“We’re going to come out better people,” he said. “We’re going to come out stronger people. We’re going to do greater things together.
Elder Shumway and the Rev. Lewis agreed that projects like this will continue.
“We’re going to keep this effort moving forward because it’s God’s effort, not ours,” Elder Shumway said. “We’re just not going to stop doing God’s work.”
