New Algonquin-LITH food pantry to open in March

Want to shop at a food pantry and also learn to grow vegetables? Perhaps take your kids fishing or apple picking? Or simply have a picnic in a verdant setting?

Clients of the Algonquin/Lake in the Hills Interfaith Food Pantry will be able to do all that in the future after the pantry's new location opens in early March, officials said.

The new 3,400-square-foot pantry at 1113 Pyott Road — twice the size of the current one — will be housed in a renovated metal barn on 19 acres that include a stocked pond and fruit orchard that belongs to the village, said project manager and pantry board member Sal Maggio. The village bought the land from Gordon and Joan Larsen in 2002 with the provision that the Larsens could remain there the rest of their lives.

The plan is to grow produce on about two acres, under the supervision of three master gardeners and one master arborist, Maggio said. Clients will have the opportunity to help with the planting, growing and picking, too. “People will have a chance to give back if they want,” he said.

To fund the move, pantry officials collected about $60,000, and the village of Lake in the Hills contributed $45,000.

But the bulk of the project was made possible by donations of labor and materials from several companies and unions, Maggio said.

“We would have needed a minium of $200,000 to start construction,” he said. “We figured with $50,000 a year in fundraising, it would maybe be three years before we put the first nail into the wall.”

Many of those who helped out are underemployed or out of work, Maggio pointed out. “What's amazing is that they're doing it and saying, ‘I don't want food, I don't want publicity. I just want to do it because it's the right thing to do.'”

Several of those who worked on the project are clients of the pantry, said Steve Palmer, a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 2087.

The Crystal Lake resident said he has been on and off work for a couple of years, but he's not a client of the pantry.

“The electricians union came on board, the laborers, iron workers, plumbers, carpet laying, all the trades came on,” he said. “I feel it's a well-needed project; it helps the community out a lot. It feels nice to give out some help,” he said.

Maggio said he's really excited about the move. “I set foot on the property (last year), and I was smitten,” he said.

While the current facility is old and outdated, the new building has a waiting room with windows overlooking the pond, a kitchen/break room for volunteers, and a pantry area triple the size of the current one, he said.

“We are one of the very few pantries to allow clients to take shopping carts,” he said. “We will continue the same philosophy.”

The village plans to raze the current pantry at 600 E. Oak St. after the move, Village Administrator Gerry Sagona said. The pantry will lease the new building from the village for $5 per year.

“The move is absolutely exciting,” Sagona said. “The most touching part of it is the level of volunteer effort that has put this together. Without the blessing of the traders and the unions who assisted in the construction, we'd be probably scratching our heads years from now.”

Pantry officials are planning a grand opening sometime in early spring, Maggio said.

“We're giving more than just food. We want (clients) to come out there and fish with their kids, have a picnic, get a bag and pick apples in the fall. We're hoping to have classes on nutrition,” he said. “We have a lot of ideas.”