Local Musicians Help New Food Pantry Become Reality

A fundraiser for a new food pantry brought Lincoln Square one step closer to fighting its hungry population.

Jam For Bread combined music and food to raise money for the Lincoln Square Friendship Center. Volunteers Heidi Bush and Meghan Gutierrez are starting the pantry to combat the misconception that people in Lincoln Square don’t go hungry. 

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About 3,880 people in the neighborhood are “food insecure,” meaning they won’t know where or when their next meal will be. That’s a higher rate than North Center, Lake View and Lincoln Park, according to a study by the hunger-relief charity Feeding America.

Jam for Bread raised more than $7,000 for the center, putting a serious dent in the $12,000 they were shy of for lease money. Bush and Gutierrez are shooting to raise the additional money needed to find a location by April. 

About 150 people came to Borelli’s on Saturday for the event. The new pizza place at 2124 W. Lawrence Ave. has a music stage that was the perfect home to the jam’s performers. 

One of those was Jonas Friddle, a folk-style musician from Lincoln Square.

“It’s not a hard thing to do, to help out the community you live in,” Friddle said. “It’s a pretty good reason to use your skills.”

The new pantry was the idea of a committee of clergymen brought together by Ward 47 Ald. Ameya Pawar. They recognized the need to help Lincoln Square’s hungry and recruited the two volunteers, who were looking to make a difference. 

See more photos on the Lincoln Square Friendship Center Facebook page.

Read about the Friendship Center:

• New Food Pantry to Help Lincoln Square's Hungry Population
• Jam for Bread Event Fights Hunger with Music