Pat's Pantry Valentine's Day Made Sweeter By Mercy Circle And McAuley

CHICAGO — Macs with Mercy’s food drive for Pat’s Pantry concluded on a sweet note when McAuley students teamed up with the Mercy Circle residents on Valentine’s Day to assemble gift bags for Pat’s Pantry.

Macs with Mercy launched a marketing campaign in January seeking donations of food and cleaning products for families benefitting from Pat’s Pantry from their classmates at Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School. Close to 200 pounds of a variety of food and cleaning products were collected.

In addition to Mercy Circle residents, students from the Catholic girls high school’s Science National Honor Society and Catherine McAuley Honors Scholars filled bags with Valentine’s candy for 48 families currently served by the pantry.

Pat’s Pantry was established in 2021 by Kathy Cavallone-Turney to honor the memory of her son, Patrick Turney, who died in September 2019 at age 23. Because her son was passionate about his friends and neighbors in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood and beyond, Cavallone-Turney and her volunteers now provide groceries to Pat’s Pantry at Mt. Greenwood Community Church, 3509 W. 111th St., Chicago. For more information or to volunteer at Pat’s Pantry, please contact Kathy Cavallone-Turney at patspantrymtgcc@gmail.com.

Macs with Mercy, an intergenerational program established in 2022 by 19th Ward Ald. Matt O’Shea, strives to brighten the lives of those who participate as well as families served by Pat’s Pantry.

“Students and residents took an innovative approach to encouraging neighbors and friends to support Pat’s Pantry. Instead of publishing a long wish list for certain items, each of us created a poster for a single item on the list. In addition to our ward’s eblasts, Beverly Area Planning Association and the Village of Evergreen Park distributed some of our creative appeal championing a single product. I chose Cheerios for my flyer,” O’Shea said.

Pat’s Pantry was established in 2021 by Kathy Cavallone-Turney to honor the memory of her son, Patrick Turney, who died in September 2019 at age 23. Because her son was passionate about his friends and neighbors in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood and beyond, Cavallone-Turney and her volunteers now provide groceries to Pat’s Pantry at Mt. Greenwood Community Church, 3509 W. 111th St., Chicago. For more information or to volunteer at Pat’s Pantry, please contact Kathy Cavallone-Turney at patspantrymtgcc@gmail.com.

Mercy Circle, a not-for-profit continuing care retirement community, has no entrance fee. Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, it is the only faith-based senior living community on Chicago’s Southwest Side.