Photo: Amber Marie Green Photography
Dion's Chicago Dream moves more fresh produce than Walmart, quips Diona Dawson, who started the nonprofit in 2020. It feeds 2000 people in 23 Chicago neighborhoods with 15,000 pounds of fresh produce each month and delivers to 375 homes a week, at a weekly cost of $550. Project Dream Fridge in Englewood has provided more than 36,000 pounds of fresh food and water weekly. In 2020, he raised $2,500 on GoFundMe, bought 100 pounds of food and fed 96 families. Then he learned to set up a nonprofit and in September 2020, began stocking the Englewood community fridge. He delivers exclusively fresh produce -- bananas, cucumbers, spinach, mango, whatever is in season and available from his wholesale supplier, JAB Produce. He operates on a first-come basis, taking applications by phone, and has 412 homes on his waiting list. He doesn't ask to see pay slips or other proof of need. The American Diabetes Association has just signed on, saying this is a model to replicate across the US.
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