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CHICAGO – Austin Harvest Market’s second season is in full bloom after reopening its doors this week.
“I couldn’t wait to get back on the ground, couldn’t wait to work with my friends, crack jokes, and see an overall smile,” said Neveah Hester, a Chicago Public School student who worked at Austin Harvest works.
Local public school students like Hester are staff and run the market, offering fresh flowers and produce at affordable prices.
“Austin has a bad reputation so we built something positive and brought it to the Austin community and Chicago, it meant so much to me, but I never knew exactly how” [to make a difference]”Said Hester.
That “how” came last June when Hester and a group of students from the By The Hand Club For Kids after-school program met former Chicago Bears linebacker Sam Acho and other members of the nonprofit Athletes For Justice in the murder of George Floyd .
“There are many people who sit and listen and many who ‘do’. Sam does both, ”said Andraya Yousfi, Managing Director of Partnerships and Development for By The Hand Club For Kids. “What he has with our students is that he knows them. He knows what is important to them and then he makes their dreams come true. “
“It was nerve-wracking at first, I’ve never been exposed to people like that,” says CPS student Josh Taylor, who also works at Austin Harvest. “It was just opening your eyes and getting to know each other, they are just like me.”
After your listening, the action came when the athletes teamed up with By The Hand to raise $ 500,000 and turn a looted liquor store into the grocery market you see today.
“Statistics say there are two grocery stores and 17 liquor stores within a half-mile radius,” said Acho, who is also president of Athletes for Justice. “So the question ‘Why build a grocery store?’ This was necessary. It was necessary.”
“Let’s hear the stories of ‘yes, we have liquor stores everywhere but no grocery stores at all. Getting fresh food is not part of our lives, so it was wonderful to just be a small part of the kickstart and see how it is grown, ”said Lucas Giolito, pitcher of the White Sox, another player who participated in the“ Peace Circles ”with Acho and fellow Chicago athletes in Austin last summer.
The students who oversee Austin Harvest had to close the market in winter and during school operations. But with the help of Acho and the 670 The Score sports radio station, they have raised more than $ 630,000 to build a permanent structure on this location on north Laramie Avenue so that there is no need to close again.
“We’re raising another half a million dollars so this is not just temporary, but full-time service, relationships, and fellowship are what we’re building here,” said Acho. “That’s why I am happy when people get involved in being the change they have always wanted to see.”
“It would be great and give the community more hope to let them know Austin Harvest is here forever,” said Taylor.
Austin Harvest emerged from a food wasteland. Now it continues to grow from those first seeds that were planted with positivity and hope.
“At first it started as ‘what if?’ and now we’re opening another year here with the right people and the right minds, ”said Hester. “A ‘what if’ can become a ‘let’s do it’.”
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