On a cold Chicago morning two decades ago, Pastor Sandy Gillespie watched a group of children gather outside her small storefront church on 79th Street, asking passersby for quarters to buy candy from the corner store. She knew, even then, that they weren't really asking for candy.
"These kids were obviously hungry," she recalled. This led her to start a six-week summer program to help feed these neighborhood kids. That summer, she met a family through the program that changed everything: 12 children, the collective kids of three siblings living under one roof, who would come for breakfast at nine, return for lunch at noon, and come back again the next morning having eaten nothing since they’d left the day before.
The family helped her realize a summer program wasn't enough to meet the deeper needs of the community. "That's what made me start the pantry," she said.
Food Depository CEO Kate Maehr helping at a holiday distribution at Chosen Tabernacle in 2008.
What started with those children has grown into a food pantry that today distributes more than 6,000 pounds of food a week and serves as a lifeline for hundreds of families. For 20 years now, Chosen Tabernacle has done that work as a proud partner of the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
"I've had the privilege of watching Chosen Tabernacle grow from a small operation into one of the most trusted resources on the South Side," said Amy Clancy, senior director of partner relations and community impact at the Food Depository.
"Over 20 years, they’ve built pantry that doesn't just feed people but knows them by name and meets them where they are."
From humble beginnings
Before opening her own pantry, Pastor Sandy spent several weeks shadowing Vi, an experienced pantry coordinator at South Shore Church on 77th and Coles. On the very first day, 13 people came. Volunteers printed flyers and walked the neighborhood to spread the word. Over time, the community responded, and the pantry grew.
Over the next two decades, the pantry moved with the congregation from 79th and Yates, to 74th, then to 43rd and Champlain in Bronzeville, where it truly hit its stride. Five years ago, the two congregations of Chosen Tabernacle and Bethel Imani merged. Bethel Imani had its own food pantry, but it was serving only about 10 families a week. After the merger and a physical renovation of the building — supported in part by a grant from the Food Depository — the newly united pantry quickly became a neighborhood anchor.
Persevering through challenges
From the beginning, Pastor Sandy was determined to keep the pantry open no matter what — a conviction that would be tested in ways she never anticipated.
A volunteer helps guests pick out groceries during the pandemic.
Of all the chapters in the pantry's history, none tested or defined it more than COVID-19. When the pandemic dramatically reduced volunteer capacity across the city in 2020, Chosen Tabernacle adapted. Operating outdoors and following all public health protocols, the pantry remained open for a community that needed it more than ever.
A connection Pastor Sandy made at a local board meeting suddenly became lifesaving. Community researchers from the University of Chicago whose fieldwork had been paused but whose stipends were already allocated needed a place to serve. They stepped up as a temporary volunteer team just when the pantry needed them most.
The alley beside the church became the hub of the operation. Volunteers raised tents. Industrial blowers pushed back the cold. The Food Depository kept the shelves stocked as demand surged to levels no one had ever seen. In those lines were people like Sharon Parker, a mother who struggled to reach her nearest school meal site, and Ethel Hood, a pharmacy clerk and single parent who relied on the pantry to help feed her family through a difficult time.
"We thought they were going to have to shut the pantry down," Hood said. "It's a blessing to us all that they stayed open."
Supporting the whole person
Pastor Sandy and her husband, Pastor Walter, with a volunteer at a pantry distribution.
Twenty years in, Chosen Tabernacle's food pantry has become something far larger than a place to pick up groceries. It hosts digital literacy classes, mental health workshops, resources for seniors, and voter registration outreach. The pantry also partners with Teamwork Englewood to connect formerly incarcerated individuals with expungement resources and support for re-entering the workforce.
"All of that is associated with food insecurity," said Pastor Sandy. "It all comes around to just being holistic in who we are to build people up."
That spirit is embodied by volunteers like Jerusha Shavers, 72, who has served the community at Chosen Tabernacle for 12 years. Retired and working part-time at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Shavers doesn't just hand out groceries — she teaches guests how to cook the food they receive, turning a weekly pickup into a moment of real connection.
"Volunteering here has changed my life," Shavers said. "We're not just giving you food. We care about you."
When SNAP cuts hit home
That commitment to the whole person is what makes the current moment so alarming. Federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) threaten to send far more families to pantries than any one of them can serve.
Pastor Sandy (middle) attends Springfield Rally Day with the Food Depository.
Chosen Tabernacle and the Food Depository are preparing together for what’s to come. In March, Pastor Sandy carried that warning to Washington, DC, as part of the Food Depository's advocacy efforts, meeting with members of Congress at the Congressional Black Caucus office to share what SNAP cuts will mean for her neighbors and the pantry. In April, she joined the Food Depository in Springfield for a rally to save SNAP.
Continuing the legacy
For 20 years, Chosen Tabernacle's food pantry has been a place that families on Chicago's South Side can count on — for food, dignity, connection and a community that genuinely cares. Its volunteers have grown alongside the neighbors they serve. Together, they have shown up through recessions, a global pandemic and an ever-growing need.
Pastor Sandy (right) with Congressman Jonathan Jackson (left), who hosted her in Washington D.C. for the State of the Union address.
The dream, as Pastor Sandy puts it, is that one day none of this will be necessary. "My dream would be that the pantry would actually go away," she said, "because there'd be no more need for it." It's a dream worth holding onto. And until it comes true, Chosen Tabernacle will be serving their neighbors every week, without fail.
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