5 decades in the making: Father Michael Pfleger celebrates 50 years of priesthood by giving back to the community

CHICAGO — Father Michael Pfleger, the longtime pastor of St. Sabina Church in Auburn Gresham, celebrated a major milestone this week by giving back to his community.

Pfleger marked 50 years of priesthood, and to honor the anniversary, he decided to do a number of things to help his community.

It all began with a gun turn-in event and gun lock giveaway at the church on Wednesday morning.

The event, which runs till 3 p.m., seeks to get guns off the street and offers some compensation for those who take part.

$100 is being offered to those who turned in handguns, and $200 for assault weapons.

The turn-in event comes as the warm summer months approach, a time when shootings usually spike.

“I want guns off the street and I want opportunity for people that want to get them out of the house, because how many children have we seen getting shot by a gun in the house. And I want any young person who, you know, they don’t want to do this anymore. Come up here and turn it in, we’ll help them get a job, we’ll help them get back in school. There are all sorts of ways we can try to help them and that we want to help them. We just want to give them an opportunity to get rid of it no questions asked,” Pfleger said.

The next event, a food giveaway, kicked off around 11 a.m. Families lined up outside the South Side church on Wednesday, where 400 boxes of food were handed out.

The celebration continues on Wednesday afternoon with a carnival set to take place in the church’s parking lot from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The carnival will feature free food, a bouncy castle and a DJ.