Overview
- City and Greater Chicago Food Depository leaders held a grand opening Jan. 22 at Legler Regional Library, formalizing a pilot that began in July 2025.
- The pantry operates like a free grocery with meats, fresh produce, dairy and staples at 115 S. Pulaski Road, open Thursdays 4–7 p.m. and Sundays 1–4 p.m.
- The Greater Chicago Food Depository supplies food and funded the pantry’s refrigerators and freezers, with additional philanthropic support and city partnership.
- Since the soft launch, the site has served more than 700 families and now reaches roughly 600 households per month; it is the second library-based pantry in the U.S.
- Starting Feb. 1, adults 18–64 without young dependents must work or volunteer about 80 hours per month to keep SNAP, and the food depository estimates up to 120,000 Cook County residents could lose benefits with a May 1 time-clock cliff.