Illinois hair salon converts into food pantry as immigration enforcement keeps some at home
By Michelle Gallardo
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WAUKEGAN, Illinois (WLS) — As the immigration crackdown across the Chicago area continues to ramp up, more and more people are afraid to carry on with daily activities.
And that includes going to the grocery store.
One Waukegan businessman has turned his hair salon into a food pantry.
The idea for the food pantry was born a week ago.
D’Marco is one of Waukegan’s largest and longest-running hair salons. But as the so-called Operation Midway Blitz began, business dried up.
It was then, the realization hit, that if people weren’t leaving their homes to get their hair cut, they probably weren’t going to work or going to the grocery store either.
A truck full of 50-pound bags of rice and beans, all donated, made its way into what until last Friday operated as a Waukegan hair salon.
On Thursday, the chairs and stores of hair products were replaced with a non-stop, all-volunteer operation with a single focus: feeding the scores of families living in the U.S. without legal permission who are now too afraid to leave their homes.
There are children suffering, says Marco Salcedo, who for 30 years has run D’Marco hair salon.
For years they’ve sustained his business. Now it’s his turn to give back, he said in Spanish.
“We’re trying to put, you know, a complete bag with eggs, bread, meat, if we have, cereal, cookies, beans, rice,” volunteer Maria González said.
The multi-pronged operation starts with volunteers sorting through donations and packing them up.
Miriam Treviño drove from Racine, Wisconsin to help out.
“I was in the same situation once before. I’m a U.S. citizen right now, but before I was the same, an immigrant,” Treviño said.
Then there are the volunteer drivers who deliver the meals to those who put in their requests through the hair salon’s Facebook page, making sure they’re not being followed by immigration enforcement agents is also part of the job.
“They’re not supposed to knock the doors. Cause a lot of people are scared, they don’t open,” González said.
The demand, says Salcedo, is high. The food is out the door nearly as soon as it comes in. Hundreds of grocery bags are being delivered every day.
Donations are coming in from individuals, but also from businesses in the area. And it’s not just food, but other essentials, like diapers. Pet food is also delivered to those who ask for it.
“It’s very inspirational what Marco has done so far. There’s a lot of people, people with businesses, helping them,” Abraham Cruz said.
Salcedo said, “It smells of onion and garlic in here now. But I am happy to do this.”
With the sheer amount of food donations threatening to overwhelm the hair salon, Salcedo says he’s now looking for someone to donate warehouse space so they can better accommodate not just all the food, but his small army of volunteers.
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