Care for Real

Executive Director Gregory Gross and former client, now CfR ambassador, Michael Shawn spoke with Rob Elgas and Cheryl Burton at ABC 7 Chicago about Care for Real's services, impact, and big news about our future home. We love our friends at ABC 7 Chicago! Watch the clip here https://bit.ly/CfRABC7.

Yesterday, more than 100 Care for Real volunteers, donors, and partners came together to break ground at our future home. It was a beautiful day to celebrate our caring community! Thank you to our dedicated supporters who have helped us reach 84.4% of our $5M campaign goal. Help us reach 100% with a gift at https://lnkd.in/gvsCaSMz. We look forward to welcoming the broader community to our new homebase in the future!

After months of searching and planning, Care for Real purchased our new home! The new building will provide the flexibility, storage, and visibility needed to better serve our community. We're really excited! We've raised 84% of the $5M needed to make this dream a reality. Our partners at Wintrust stepped forward to match gifts up to $100,000 through September. Are you in? Give at https://lnkd.in/gvsCaSMz!

Big news coming soon!

Happy #PRIDE Month from Care for Real! Care for Real recognizes the disproportionate rates of hunger and food insecurity in the LGBTQIA+ community. We work hard to foster healthier, more equitable, and inclusive communities where every neighbor has access to fresh, nutritious food. 💜💙💚💛🧡❤️

Meet Alex! Like many of the staff at Care for Real, Alex first started as a volunteer. While looking for organizations to join, he discovered that CfR was in his neighborhood! After volunteering with us for a few months, Alex was hired as a full-time Warehouse Associate last summer! Alex stays busy all day moving and organizing boxes of food, setting up sorting stations and coordinating volunteers, and keeping the warehouse as clean as possible. Alex keeps things light and fun at CfR, sharing, “I bring a lot of humor and I like to bring the laughs. Just to keep the mood light so people aren’t getting bogged down. We all have stuff going on outside of this place.” Alex’s favorite part about working at Care for Real is the volunteer community. “We have so many people that are so fun and so nice to be around, always have a smile on their face, always have a fun positive attitude, like to make jokes, and are just friendly.”

NBC Chicago visited Care for Real's Rogers Park pantry yesterday to learn more about the impact of Dom's sudden closure on our operations. Click below to hear Reporter Regina Waldroup's conversation with Executive Director Gregory Gross.

ABC 7 Chicago visited Care for Real today to learn about the impact of Dom's sudden closure on our food pantry operations. Hear from Kate, our Director of Programs, and one of our clients in the video below. Learn how to support us at careforeal.org. https://lnkd.in/gXZugYhi

Thank you to our friends at Block Club Chicago NFP for sharing the impact of Dom's abrupt closure has on Care for Real and our ability to serve neighbors facing food insecurity. Click below to read the story.

Learn about the challenges people face while applying for and renewing public benefits like food assistance, and the people trying to change that in this short video.