Earlier this month, the Chicago Red Stars partnered with our Evergreen Park, Ill. store to serve their neighbors facing food insecurity. Red Stars players and staff, as well as Meijer team members, visited the Village Pantry to pack bags of food and deliver them to people’s cars for a drive-thru food pantry.
“It’s great what Meijer does to serve the communities that they’re based in and it’s great for us as the pro-soccer team here in Chicago to get involved and be in the community,” Chicago Red Stars Player Sarah Gorden said.
The Village Pantry is one of the store’s Simply Give pantry partners so it just made sense to connect them with the Red Stars when the team came looking for an opportunity to serve its community. In addition to donating time, the Red Stars donated Go Go Squeeze squeezable applesauce packets and bread from the local Black Bread Company to the pantry, and our Meijer team donated snacks to feed the volunteers at the event.
“Everyone needs a helping hand once in a while and we are just so proud that we are able to help,” Evergreen Park Meijer Store Director Tammy Macak said.
*Please note that the Red Stars and Meijer volunteers wore masks when volunteering and only took them off to be interviewed for the video at a safe social distance.