Roger Goodell, Lori Lightfoot join Bears for new Chicago grocery store project

Share

On Tuesday afternoon, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell were among those that joined past and current Chicago athletes at a liquor store on the West Side. 

Alongside the likes of Ryan Pace, Mitch Trubisky, Charles Leno, Jonathan Toews, Malcom Subban, Lucas Giolito, and more, the group took part in a ceremonial demolition of a liquor store in Chicago's Austin neighborhood. The event was put on by former Bears player Sam Acho and co-produced with the 'By The Hand' organization, and was meant to bring attention to the ongoing food desert crisis in that area of the city. The neighborhood as 17 liquor stores but only two groceries within a half-mile radius. 

The group raised $500,000 to purchase the liquor store, which they'll be converting into a grocery store in the near future. 

"The cool thing about having Roger here, the mayor here, the superintendent of the Chicago police here and having over 12 athletes from different Chicago sports teams and other athletes who are just from Chicago who are on different teams in the NFL, MLB, etc. is that people care," Acho said in a statement. "It's time for people to show up. I think our world has changed. So for use to be able to come together to lead that change, I think it means something." 

Contact Us