CHIditarod XIV

19,719.5 Pounds of Food Collected
18,847.5 Meals for the Hungry
More than $72,000 Raised to Fight Hunger in Chicago

Nearly a thousand festive humans gathered on March 2, 2019 to create the annual spectacularly-festive, extraordinarily-costumed, epically-mobile food drive and charity shopping cart race — CHIditarod XIV.  The needle never climbed above freezing on Chicago’s near West side as 245 volunteers and 96 teams of 5 costumed and thoroughly excited humans ran tricked-out shopping carts through 5 themed neighborhood checkpoints in the name of charity, prizes, and glory. Not since CHIditarod XIII has there been such a record-breaking spectacle of chaos in pursuit of feeding the hungry.

The annual philanthropic spectacle raced through Chicago’s West Town neighborhoods, with each team visiting five checkpoints each. Five Star, Mahoney’s, Phyllis’s Musical Inn, and Roots Handmade Pizza returned as crowd favorites, and we welcomed newcomer Output Lounge to the race.  Each checkpoint hosted our costumed superstars with immersive themes, contests, and interactive opportunities. Our friends at Cobra Lounge graciously stepped up to host the Starting and Finish Lines. All bars have generously agreed to donate a portion of their proceeds to The CHIditarod Foundation to aid in our epic mission of fighting hunger in Chicago.

The Food Drive

CHIditarod gleefully calls itself “probably the world’s largest mobile food drive”, and we could not be more impressed by this year’s food drive success. With the help of our friends at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, the CHIditarod XIV food drive collected enough food and funds to provide 18,847.5 meals for Chicago’s hungry. Thank you CHIditarod participants for being amazing all-stars and for making a difference in the lives of many, many people.

The Art Carts

Everyone loves big, over the top carts brimming with art and interactivity. 2019's carts were diverse in experience, execution, and humor. Longstanding crowd favorites HoboQ went Greek this year, making sure everyone enjoyed delectable snacks, music, and of course, fire.

Art Cart Champions: The Circus Jerks

The Circus Jerks, produced by Chicago's very own Secret Gentleman’s Club, brought a 4 car circus train to CHIditarod. Exceeding 25 feet in length, it begins with a massive pink elephant (immediately followed by a poop attendant), then a gypsy hut complete with smoking chimney, an exotic animal cage featured lions, monkeys, the world's strongest man, refreshment server, a super happy clown, and the ringleader himself.

2nd Place Art Cart: Show Me Your Beads

Epic Fundraising

Fundraising is the powerful force behind the CHIditarod Foundation's hunger-fighting grant program, providing a total of $152,000 in grants to Chicagoland nonprofits who share in our mission to end hunger in Chicago. This year alone, our racers, volunteers, checkpoints, and organizers — with the help of their families, friends, and communities — raised more than $72,000 in support of this community grants program, more than ever before.

Our grant program will once again be able to support community-centered initiatives that address hunger, food scarcity, and education via the CHIditarod Grant Program.

Volunteers

While CHIditarod racers do wondrous things, none of this would be possible without the 245 brave and selfless volunteers that made CHIditarod XIV happen. Volunteers are truly the MVPs of CHIditarod.

Not only do many of them fundraise, they also build the starting and finish lines, braving the (often extreme) cold, create immersive and exciting environments at our awesome checkpoints, keep you safe while mobile, and give countless hours Coreganizing CHIditarod. To our volunteers, we honor and salute you all. You are truly our heroes.

Thank You Thank You Thank You!

More Awesome Teams!

Legend Award: Environmental Encroachment

This year we also awarded a very, very special Legend Award to CHIditarod favorites -- Environmental Encroachment. Environmental Encroachment (or EE) has been with CHIditarod since the very beginning, dating all the way back to 2006. This booming brass band born from Chicago's underground art scene donates their time and skills every year to CHIditarod's starting line. We honor and salute EE for sharing their funk and flair with all of us, and you, year after year. You are CHIditarod.

There are so many winners at CHIditarod; see below for all the fun numbers.