December 27, 2012 – The Chicago Bulls recently teamed up with Midway Moving and Storage and Vienna Beef to host a holiday food drive to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The food drive collected more than 35,000 pounds of food which will provide a lot of meals for those in need. This year, the team offered fans three different ways to donate.
New this year, fans had the opportunity to donate by adding $1 to their purchases at United Center concession stands, bars, in-seat service, the Budweiser Select Brew Pub & Carvery, Jose Cuervo Cantina and team store Bull Market at six Bulls home games including the in-arena collection on December 15. The Bulls extend a special thanks to Levy Restaurants for helping to make this possible.
Fans were also encouraged to contribute to the in-arena drive on December 15. From the time gates opened at 5:30 p.m. until the 7 p.m. tip-off of the Bulls game against the Brooklyn Nets, fans were able to drop off canned food items such as soups, fruits and vegetables at any of the United Center admission gates.
Fans unable to attend a game could make a monetary donation to the virtual food drive at Bulls.com/fooddrive.
The team also partnered with 30 elementary schools in the Chicago Public School system to collect food. The school that collected the most pounds of food received 100 tickets to the December 15 game and Bulls t-shirts, plus an in-school visit by a Bulls ambassador and Benny the Bull at a later date. The Bulls would like to congratulate Phillip Murray Elementary Language Academy as the winner of the food drive collection competition. They collected over 4,000 pounds of food.
The Bulls coordinated the event as part of NBA Cares Season of Giving, a league-wide initiative that aims to brighten the holidays for thousands of children and families across the country.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago’s food bank, is a nonprofit food distribution and training center providing food for hungry people while striving to end hunger in our community. The Food Depository distributes donated and purchased food through a network of 650 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters to 678,000 adults and children in Cook County every year. Last year, the Food Depository distributed 64 million pounds of nonperishable food and fresh produce, dairy products and meat, the equivalent of 134,800 meals every day. For more information, visit www.chicagofoodbank.org or call 773-247-FOOD.
