South Side churches give away more than 40,000 eggs across the city as prices soar: ‘It starts with caring’

Eggs were once Salvador Aguado’s go-to food when cooking for his grandkids.

But the 51-year-old South Chicago resident hasn’t bought eggs in more than a month because of skyrocketing prices putting too much pressure on his wallet.

“The egg prices are ridiculous,” Aguado told the Sun-Times Saturday. “I understand prices might go up a little bit, but not like this. … I guess that’s life. What can we do?”

Aguado was among the hundreds of people lined up in a parking lot at 87th Street, just off the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chatham — one of several locations across the city Saturday — to receive a carton of eggs during a giveaway organized by Bridgeport’s Progressive Baptist Church and Pullman’s Salem Baptist Church. Many of the sites shut down before the two-hour run time had finished because of the demand for eggs, with multiple locations seeing about 1,000 visitors, organizers said.

Eggs are nearly 60% more expensive than they were last year, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture expects egg prices to rise 41% this year over last year’s average of $3.17 per dozen. The latest monthly Consumer Price Index showed a dozen Grade A eggs cost an average of $5.90 in U.S. cities in February, passing January’s record-high price of $4.95.

The Rev. Charlie Dates, who is head pastor at both churches, spearheaded the effort and said the churches purchased the eggs from wholesale distributor Sysco for “tens of thousands of dollars,” with congregants and the churches chipping in. He hoped to get a carton to at least 3,000 households.

“Quite frankly we can’t wait on anyone to fix this for our people. The Black church has historically sought to help families in need,” Dates said. “Even when the government didn’t care about families on the margins, we have.”

Shannon Strong, a lifelong Englewood resident, was also in line to get eggs Saturday afternoon. She said she too has had to axe eggs from her grocery list, and at times, other produce as well.

She’s hoping the price of eggs drop to $3 per carton in the near future.

“It’s been very difficult, especially getting stuff you normally get,” Strong, 42, said. “Some of us are struggling with work and hours; even if the prices just went down a little bit, it would be great.”

To prepare for the event, volunteers spent 12 hours Friday loading the eggs into trucks at House of Hope Church, 752 E. 114th St., before heading out Saturday afternoon to distribute them for two hours in Englewood, Fuller Park, Douglas and Roseland, in addition to the Chatham site.

Tracey Marcus, a 57-year-old Chatham resident, said she was fortunate enough to have been able to afford the price increases seen in supermarkets nationwide, which is why she wanted to give back with the church she’s been a part of since 2016.

“Our community needs so much,” Marcus said. “We’re just trying to make it a little lighter on them. … People are out here suffering so I just hope this helps a little bit.”

But egg prices aside, Aguado said people were struggling given the current economic situation, and that it would be good to see more events like the egg giveaway from local organizations that have the capacity to do so.

“If other churches and community groups are willing to help out people, that’s great,” Aguado said.

While Dates said he and his church community were enthusiastic about giving back to the community, others needed to step in too, particularly the government — which has seen significant rollbacks of social safety nets and services from the Trump administration in recent weeks.

Regardless of that, Dates encouraged people to stay strong and lean on each other, in particular their faith communities, in times of need.

“In this moment of despair and discouragement, [I hope people see] we are never lost and we are never hopeless,” Dates said. “[But] if we can do this, then how much more can our strong government do to step in and help people in need? I think it starts with caring about people, particularly at the national level.”