Fill a Bag, Fill a Bus 2025 Recap: Thank you, Chicago

By: WCIU Staff | December 15, 2025

We came, we saw, we filled a bus!

This past Thursday in Oak Lawn and Friday in River Forest, The U, MeTV FM, and our incredible partners - the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Jewel-Osco, CTA, Walner Law and AlmostFreeTeeth.com - joined forces for our annual “Fill a Bag, Fill a Bus” food drive.

On both days, we set up outside Jewel-Osco stores, inviting shoppers to fill a bag with nonperishable food to help us pack a CTA bus. All food donations went directly to the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s partner pantries: Together We Cope on Thursday and Beyond Hunger on Friday. Together We Cope, based in Tinley Park, serves 27 south suburban communities, while Beyond Hunger provides hunger relief across 13 zip codes in Cook County.

By the end of the event, our bus was overflowing - front to back, seats and floor - with generous food donations. Combined with cash and online contributions, we provided tens of thousands of meals for local families in need this holiday season. Chicago, your generosity makes this possible every year - thank you!

A special shoutout to our amazing partners:

Walner Law, for their incredible $10,000 donation

AlmostFreeTeeth.com, for braving the cold with us both days

And of course, our favorite Chicago-born talk show host, Steve Wilkos, for once again serving as our celebrity ambassador and joining us Thursday to collect donations and raise awareness