With your help, the Chicago Lights Urban Farm is responding to this need. Amid the pandemic, the Urban Farm--located in the former Cabrini-Green neighborhood--is partnering with residents to make sure they have access to local, healthy food through:
20-week community-supported agriculture (CSA) salad shares, with half going to families with low incomes
Partnerships with Near North Health Service Corporation and Mercy Housing to provide produce to patients
Discounts and vouchers to local residents for our weekly on-site Farmstand
Donations of produce to our Social Service Center's food pantry
Gardening plots for 18 community residents to grow their own food
"Through [Mercy Housing's] Diabetes Prevention Program, bags of fresh fruits and vegetables given to me personally have helped me to execute the seriousness of eating regularly balanced meals. I will continue to use points learned as part of my new lifestyle. Keep up the good work!"
- Anna
"I am so appreciative of the grocery bag I receive from the CSA. The grocery bag affords me the opportunity to try an assortment of produce. I’ve been introduced to fruits and vegetables I’ve never seen or eaten, which adds a little excitement to my meals."
- Monica
"The food we grow and programs we offer are even more important at this time when many people are struggling to put healthy food on the table," says Director of the Urban Farm Ben Jaffe. "We have made it a priority to get more produce bags to families with low incomes and to provide this essential service amidst a pandemic."
Be a part of providing this essential service. When you donate to Chicago Lights, you're helping give access to fresh, local produce.
As Ben says, "Given the uncharted waters we are in, it motivates me to provide people of all ages and situations a connection to something so universal as food."
