Peapod.com marks 20th anniversary, wraps up food drive

Peapod.com marks its 20th anniversary this year and next week wraps up one of its more successful food drives for area needy.

The online grocer actually started in Evanston by installing modems in customers' homes and allowing them to fax or call in their food orders. It's since come a long way to venturing onto the Internet and reaching 22 markets nationwide.

Now its corporate office is in Skokie and a massive warehouse sits in Lake Zurich, said company spokeswoman Elana Margolis.

"In those days, we shopped for the food in Jewel and then delivered it to the homes in Evanston," she said.

Since then, Peapod.com has had partnering arrangements with Safeway, Kroger and others nationwide.

While its online shopping experience has expanded, it also has worked continuously to help feed the needy, especially in the surrounding suburbs around Chicago. It provides weekly donations to food pantries around the suburbs with gently dented or overstocked canned goods. Peapod.com also plans food drives around the holidays, she said.

Its current food drive, as part of its 20th anniversary, is expected to raise roughly $10,500 through Sept. 30, Margolis said.

"This has gotten more clicks on our Web site than with any other fundraiser," she said. "We believe there are more people who are concerned about their communities now, more so than ever because of the recession."

Surfing: Besides its partnerships with Chicago's Lighthouse for the Blind and South Carolina's Fast Forward Community Technology Center, Oakbrook Terrace-based Comptia's Educational Foundation is looking to expand with other public computer centers to help people launch careers in information technology. The foundation's Creating Futures offers training and other opportunities to U.S. veterans, people with disabilities, women, minorities and at-risk youth.

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