After storms rolled through Springfield Thursday afternoon and Saturday night, many were left without power and with structures damaged by trees. Members of our community stepped into the breach and helped their neighbors. A drive around town revealed these people helping people.
The Central Illinois Foodbank at 1937 E. Cook St. held a drive-up food distribution event at 11 a.m. on Sunday. By 1:30 p.m. they’d served over 600 families with fresh food and water.
The need that they were meeting was great. Cars lined up well before the event started and snaked around several blocks; one woman who received food told Illinois Times that she’d been in line for an hour and a half.
The Foodbank’s efforts were even more heroic given that they were out of power themselves, but had the generosity to help others. Established in 1982, they distribute more than 12 million pounds of food annually.
Down the road at 2880 E. Cook St., the Plumbers, Steamfitters and HVACR Union Local 137 hosted another distribution event cosponsored by the Salvation Army, Hy-Vee supermarket and Meridian Health. Here residents received water, boxed lunches, cleaning supplies and personal hygiene products. According to Jim Blizzard, Hy-Vee store director in Springfield, the company provided 1,500 lunches and 36,000 bottles of water at a discount, along with logistics and volunteer personnel. Water was shipped from Chariton, Iowa, in order to avoid putting a strain on local supplies.
The American Red Cross teamed up with the NAACP to provide shelter for Springfield residents in need. According to Dawn Morris, Executive Director of the South Central Chapter of the Illinois Red Cross, her organization saw a sharp increase in calls to their 1-800-RED-CROSS hotline from persons whose homes had become unsafe because of damage or loss of power. “I immediately started calling our community partners,” she said, and when she got Theresa Haley at NAACP on the phone, Haley offered their building at 801 S. 11th St. as a resource. “She didn’t hesitate,” said Morris, “she just said ‘here’s the keys.’” They hosted dinner for the needy on Saturday evening and a family of four was scheduled to spend Sunday night at the shelter.
Those who were looking for a way to cook food before it spoiled only had to follow their noses to Buzz Bomb Brewing Company at 406 E. Adams St. There, volunteers fired up grills and cooked Sunday afternoon for residents still without power. Beelzebunz, a Springfield bakery located at 213 S. Fifth St., donated snacks and contributed a big pot of rice to help round out the meal. Next door to Beelzebunz, at 217 S. Fifth St., Replay Lounge opened its doors on a Sunday to provide free wings and French fries to friends and neighbors without power. Everyone will have a chance to thank them on Thursday night when they visit for downtown karaoke.
At the All In One Laundry Center at 801 S. Grand Ave., owner Pamela Frazier was addressing a different need. Sponsored by Springfield Clinic, All In One offered free washer and dryer service Sunday, Monday and Tuesday this week. “It started when Ald. Lakeisha Purchase arrived in my parking lot, saying she’d received phone calls from her constituents in need of help,” she said. Purchase and Jen Boyer, executive vice president for operations at Springfield Clinic, knew each other from the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce and leveraged that relationship to put the event together.
“Everybody needs air, water and clean linen,” said Frazier. “We’re a part of the community and so happy we had the chance to help. There’s such a need, and we’re blessed to have the resources to ease people’s stress with the tools that we have,” she said.
