Chase meets ambitious donation goal

The folks at Chase along Randall Road in Elgin wanted to give back to the community.

They heard how desperate the food pantries were for donations.

So they decided to challenge their employees.

They set a goal of having the 2,400 employees donate a total of 4,000 items for the pantries.

"The goal was based on one-and-a-half items per employee -- a little something from everyone that we thought would be great if we reached the 4,000 items goal," said Debra Miller of Chase, who helped organize the donation drive.

The challenge was on for February. Each department in the center formed teams and challenged each other to donate the most items.

At the end of the month, they ended up with 12,100 items for people in need in the Fox Valley Community.

"Our employees are thrilled with the amount of items we are donating. It makes them feel really good about the contribution they have made to the community," Miller said.

The items went to the Salvation Army, the Community Crisis Center and Centro de Informacion.

Chase employees live everywhere from Geneva to Crystal Lake. They decided to help agencies that would help out their community through this food drive.

"While we don't all live in Elgin, we know how important the community is to our continued success as a business and we wanted to reach out and help," Miller said. "We heard through our local United Way how desperately the food pantries needed additional donations to serve the families who are seeking assistant in putting food on the table every day."

Moving in: Taking over the building that once was home to Govnor's Public House will be Moretti's Ristorante and Pizzeria.

The restaurant is expected to open some time this spring, serving up pizza and other specialties along Randall Road in Lake in the Hills.

Moretti's already has five other locations throughout the suburbs and in Chicago.

Once a year: Though it took over the former Claddagh Irish Pub in Algonquin, the new Barley House has a policy that no Irish music is to be played.

However, they broke that rule yesterday, allowing the music for St. Patrick's Day.

If you missed it, you'll have to wait until next year, or head to the Claddagh along Randall in Geneva.

Amy Williams' column covers all the news of business along the Randall Road corridor from Batavia to Crystal Lake. Contact her at randallbiz@comcast.net or at (847) 894-5036.