Greater Chicago Food Depository offers Chuhak & Tecson volunteers an outlet to give back, build camaraderie

About 45 employees from Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. spent an afternoon volunteering at Greater Chicago Food Depository for the second year in a row.

Attorneys and staff at Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. came together to help ‘can’ hunger by volunteering their efforts in preparation for the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s 28th Annual Hunger Walk.

On June 26, about 45 Chuhak & Tecson employees volunteered their time for the second year in a row to helping fight hunger in Chicago. Together, their efforts and thousands of others are what help the Food Depository feed 678,000 Cook County residents on an annual basis. In 2012, the Depository distributed 64 million pounds of fresh produce, dairy products, meats and nonperishable foods. That amount is equivalent to an astonishing 134,800 meals per day.

“Volunteering as a group was not only a great way to build camaraderie within the firm, but a rewarding experience to know that we were part of a larger effort to help make a difference in the Chicago community,” said Kimberly Boike, principal at Chuhak & Tecson.

“One in six people in Cook County are food insecure and do not know where their next meal is coming from,” Boike said. “This statistic gave new perspective to all of us about the great need the Depository has for volunteers to help provide meals for hungry people in our community.”

This year, instead of packing bulk products into smaller batches to be sent to local food pantries, firm volunteers packed bags for the walkers who participated in the Food Depository’s Hunger Walk at Soldier Field on June 28.

Volunteers worked together to surpass their goal of 3,000 bags and compiled a total of 6,850 goodie bags for both children and adults who took part in the walk.

Chuhak & Tecson donated its 126 accumulated volunteer hours to New Moms, a not for profit that served as the firm’s Women Helping Women partner in May 2011. Since 1983, New Moms has provided long-term assistance to struggling, underprivileged pregnant and parenting adolescents and their children.

“We are grateful to Chuhak & Tecson for their continued support for the work that we do at New Moms,” said Anjanette Young, supervisor. “Through these and other efforts, we are able to equip disadvantaged parents with tools to achieve economic independence and family stability.”

Seeing their efforts go to such a worthy cause, Chuhak & Tecson volunteers are looking forward to their next trip to the Greater Chicago Food Depository and the time they can donate to help continue feeding Cook County.