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Project Concern of Cudahy-St. Francis was founded in 1968 as a food pantry for low-income residents and has grown to provide clothing, furniture, household items, school supplies and information on and referral services for other local resources—all free of charge. Project Concern is located in the lower level of Nativity of the Lord Parish (4611 S. Kirkwood Ave., Cudahy) with its partner nonprofit, Cudahy-St. Francis Interfaith Program for the Elderly (CSFI), which offers seniors 60 and older free services such as rides to appointments, help with housekeeping and yard work, home safety checks and a medical equipment lending program, and collaborates with Project Concern to improve efficiencies. Project Concern makes about 100 free homebound deliveries each month and also offers a birthday and holiday gift program for children 17 and under, holiday food baskets for families with children and seniors and recycles clothing, electronic items, aluminum and printer cartridges. With the help of 75 regular volunteers and additional volunteers throughout the year, Project Concern is able to serve between 1,000-1,200 people per month and distributes over 300,000 pounds of food and 10,000 pounds of clothing and other items per year.
“The community members (churches, businesses, community organizations and individuals) of Cudahy and St. Francis are extremely generous and make it possible for us to serve those in need,” says Project Concern Director Debby Pizur. “Simply put, Project Concern or CSFI could not operate without its volunteers.”
Project Concern is seeking volunteers 12 years and older to help in a variety of ways and donations of new socks and canned items such as tuna, chicken and fruit. Monetary donations are also appreciated, as Project Concern can purchase food at a very low cost from Feeding America. To learn more about volunteering and donating, call 414-744-0645 or visit projectconcerncudahy.org.
Feeding America will be hosting a fundraiser on behalf of Project Concern Sunday, Jan. 25, at Motion Plus Lanes (3620 E. Carpenter Ave., Cudahy) at 1 p.m. The $25 cost includes food, raffles and auction items, with all proceeds going to the hungry. For more information, visit facebook.com/ProjectConcernCSF or motionpluslanes.com.
