Lakeview Pantry moved into their new space last month after recognizing that it had outgrown its home on North Broadway. The Pantry launched a capital campaign in 2012 to raise more than $3 million to buy the new property. We talked with Angie Davis, Marketing + Communications Manager, and Ashley Friend, Development Manager, about what the new space means to their organization's sustainability and how the new space will scale Lakeview Pantry's mission to eliminate hunger and poverty in their community. 

What led to the idea of moving to a new location and how will the new space be able to increase your impact?

After renting space for over 40 years, Lakeview Pantry initiated a capital campaign in 2012 to fund the acquisition of a new and permanent home for its main site. The ultimate goal is to sustain the Pantry’s mission and provide stability for long-term operation by purchasing a building to house food distribution and social services. A key benefit of moving to a larger facility is that we can increase the range of social services we offer and the number of people we can serve. For the first time, we have a space designed for our programs in an efficient and purposeful way that best accommodates our clients.

Some of the key highlights include:

• More Overall Space: 7,500 sq feet compared to 4,100 sq feet
• First floor houses food distribution operations and includes increased space for food storage as well as cooking demonstrations, nutrition classes and other workshops for clients and the community.
• Second floor features workspace for Lakeview Pantry’s staff of 14 and private meeting spaces, allowing caseworkers to meet with clients to assess food, healthcare and housing needs.

Enhanced social service programming is one of the primary benefits of our new space and increasing our clients' self sufficiency is a primary piece of our mission. The goal of our mental health counseling services is to offer clients suffering from depression, anxiety, stress, and grief assistance in developing coping skills thus improving overall mental health. Counseling will be provided by trained and licensed professionals.  We will also offer longer term mental health partnerships with clients where we complete a comprehensive service plan and meet with the client weekly. 

You ran an incredibly successful capital campaign. Can you tell us a little bit about how you ran the campaign?

The Capital Campaign was initiated in 2012 and was spearheaded by the Capital Campaign Cabinet which consisted of Board members and Pantry supporters. The Campaign was co-chaired by Board President Dan Laytin, and supporter, Dean Patenaude. We reached the first milestone in the campaign in January 2015 when we purchased a 7,500 square foot building at 3945 N. Sheridan, paying for it in full with contributions already made to the campaign. Continued fundraising allowed us to break ground in August 2015 to begin building renovations and prepare for installation of equipment, furniture and fixtures. To date, over 150 donors have made contributions to the campaign. The budgeted cost of this project, including all expenses, was $3.5 million and we only have approximately $298,000 left to raise. Please see our Capital Campaign webpage for a full list of donors and further details. 

What role did IFF play in obtaining the new space? 

In partnership with IFF, Lakeview Pantry worked with architecture firm Wheeler Kearns to design the interior space and Friedler Construction to complete the build-out of the property. This marks the second time Lakeview Pantry has turned to IFF to identify and plan for a larger location. IFF also approved a $1.5 million loan to buy and renovate the building, including for accessibility and code improvements.

Visit the new Lakeview Pantry location at 3945 N. Sheridan, Chicago, IL. Learn more about Lakeview Pantry here.