Wheeling police stop hunger with help of local grocer's patrons
Several Wheeling police officers participated Monday in their department's "Arrest Hunger" campaign to help suburban families facing food insecurity.
For the fourth straight year, Carnicerias Jimenez in Wheeling partnered with the department on the initiative. Several volunteers and Wheeling police officers picked up pallets of food Monday from the Hispanic grocery store and transported them to Our Savior Evangelical Free Church in Wheeling and St. Mary Parish in Buffalo Grove.
"Normally, the drive begins Thanksgiving to Christmas and we push it on to the customers to help with the Wheeling Police Arrest Hunger campaign," said Pat Bedolla, regional manager. "We did a total of five pallets. Last year, we did seven. This year did not go as well as last year."
Barbara Haravon, a member of St. Vincent Society who maintains the food pantry restocked empty shelves in a building near St. Mary's after Wheeling police dropped off five big containers of donated food.
"We fed 260 families," she said. "People tend to come during the holidays. We were above average this year."