METROPOLIS (WSIL) -- People lined up on Thursday for free boxes of food.
"Up the road here, you can see people's been lined up single file down Girard St. probably for at least the last hour," says Mayor of Metropolis, Billy McDaniel.
People were lined up, bumper to bumper to collect fresh produce being given away at Dorothy Miller Park.
President of Laborers' Local 773, Matt Smith, says a grant allowed them to provide fresh produce to communities across southern Illinois.
"We had been looking into trying to find a way to help our retired members, or our most vulnerable members, and then when the COVID pandemic came along, this was just a natural fit."
Toni Keyes lives in Metropolis, and says the food is a blessing to her friends and family.
"I just think it's a blessing that this union has come down to help us, because there's somebody that's going to be less fortunate than someone else."
Mayor McDaniel says the pandemic has indiscriminately taken a toll on the people of the city.
"Loss of employment, loss of caregivers, lost an opportunity to make a living."
"That's what a union's all about. Unions are all about helping, it's about the common goal and a united movement, and in times like these, whenever you look at struggling families, people having a hard time putting food on the table, this was just an obvious route for us to take," says Smith.
"I think southern Illinois speaks for itself. We help each other."
USDA approved items like milk, cottage cheese, and a variety of vegetables were provided.
