1,500 families crowd East St. Louis giveaway as coronavirus shows its economic toll

Families feeling the strain from the coronavirus pandemic began lining up outside East St. Louis High School early Friday morning hoping to be among the 1,500 to receive a care package of food and healthcare staples.

The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc. held its third large food and supply giveaway for the St. Louis region. Volunteers distributed care packages containing fresh produce, milk, dried and canned goods, toiletries and fruit to St. Clair County families.

Their next event is planned for Friday, April 24 in Madison County. Logistics for the giveaway are still being planned.

“Everyone is hurting, when you look at 22 million individuals having filed for unemployment, and you look at the fact that 75 percent of the people that we talked to that have gone through the food line actually say that they have never, ever been to a food pantry in their entire lives,” said MIke McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. “Three weeks ago, they had jobs, they had benefits and they had the ability to care for themselves and their families. Now they don’t have any of that.

“They have an enormous amount of anxiety, hopelessness and a lack of certainty of about what is going to happen in the future.”

This event is sponsored by Enterprise Holdings Foundation, Emerson, the Regional Business Council, Sysco, Bank of America, Simmons Bank, Schnucks, the COVID-19 Regional Response Fund Coalition, Church of God In Christ Urban Initiatives Program, The Empowered Church, East St. Louis NAACP, Holland and Operation Food Search.

This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 6:34 PM.