Food giveaway in Joliet was biggest ever, Sharefest says

The Free Food Giveaway on Saturday was the biggest that Sharefest has ever coordinated, Sharefest founder Gary Cheney said.

Cheney on Monday said 74,501 pounds of food, the most ever for a Sharefest event, were given away in three hours at the event in downtown Joliet.

“I actually had to go out and get more food halfway through,” Cheney said. “I could tell we were going to run out.”

Sharefest coordinated the event at the request of Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant and Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy to help people recover from the severe storms of July 15 that spun out multiple tornadoes and created widespread power outages.

The giveaway was unique in that three organizations joined to provide food whereas usually one is involved, Cheney said. The other two were Northern Illinois Food Bank and Illinois Partners in Hope.

“I was pleased to see the county, the city, and my other food partners come together to meet the need,” Cheney said.

Other numbers from Saturday provided by Cheney:

• Food was provided to 799 families and a total of 2,506 people

• 80 pallets of food were given away

• Also handed out were 333 Jewel-Osco gift cards worth $5,000

The drive-up event at the Will County Office Building filled the parking lot and cars were lined down Scott Street waiting to get in, Cheney said.

“We’ve been doing this for 18 years,” he said. “We’ve not hit that amount of pounds of food in three hours of time. It’s pretty remarkable.”