Food pantry looks for new home

by BRIAN NADIG

The New Hope Community Food Pantry, 7115 W. Hood Ave., is looking for a new home now that the church it leases space from is for sale.

The pantry, which opened in 2004, operates in the basement of the New Hope United Methodist Church, which recently merged with Diverse United, a congregation of area churches that meets at Saint Alban’s Episcopal Church, 6240 N. Avondale Ave.

Pantry president Chuck Johnson said that it is not known how much longer the pantry will remain open at its current location but that the goal is to relocate before the church is sold and the pantry is given notice to vacate.

The pantry started out as a mission of the church, but it will soon become its own 501c3 nonprofit entity, with the new name of New Hope House, Johnson said. There is no space for the pantry at Saint Alban’s, he said.

The pantry serves about 250 families each month, serving the 60630, 60631, 60646, 60656 and 60706 ZIP code areas. All items, including food and clothes, are offered free, but participating families must have a household income that does not exceed the guidelines for food distribution programs set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The pantry, which is an agency of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, is open for clients from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays.

Clients can pick and choose which items they want from the pantry instead of being given a pre-packaged box or bag, Johnson said.

"There are limits. It’s based on household size," he said.

Meanwhile, the pantry accepts donations from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Mondays.

"Anyone who wants to give us stuff, we will take it," Johnson said. "We also have donation boxes throughout the community."

One of the boxes is at the Roden Library, 6083 N. Northwest Hwy. The pantry asks that clothing donations be seasonal in nature due to space limitations.

The pantry also has community partners that make donations or sponsor grants, Johnson said. Those partners include Baird and Warner Edgebrook, 5430 W. Devon Ave., and Panera Bread, 39 S. Northwest Hwy., Park Ridge.

The existing pantry is about 10,000 square feet, and a similar sized space is being sought for the relocation, Johnson said. The pantry would need to use the full amount of space 2 days a week, he said.

For more information, call the pantry at 312-613-5702 or send an e-mail to newhopefoodpantry@att.net.