Glen Ellyn Food Pantry Breaks Ground, 'Touched' By Local Support

GLEN ELLYN, IL — Over 40 years ago, the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry got a humble start by offering a few food staples that were stored in a closet space in Grace Lutheran Church. Though they've since expanded, the food pantry has been working out of a shared space in the church for the past four decades. That's about to change in the near future, as Glen Ellyn Food Pantry recently broke ground on its new home in a century-old parsonage at Faith Lutheran Church.

The milestone is something the food pantry couldn't have reached without the help of the Glen Ellyn community, Glen Ellyn Food Pantry Board Chair Paula Nugent told Patch. Nugent said members of the community stepped up not despite, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, which added an increased demand for food donations.

In 2020 alone, Glen Ellyn Food Pantry distributed more than 760,000 pounds of food to residents in need throughout DuPage County.

The Glen Ellyn Community Steps Up

"The community not only stepped up to make sure we had food and funds to feed our neighbors, but they also made sure we had funds to build this new home," Nugent said.

In February 2020, the food pantry celebrated reaching the halfway point of its $900,000 fundraising goal. Then the pandemic hit, making in-person fundraising events impossible.

"[We were] limited in our ability to raise funds in a more traditional way," Nugent told Patch. Glen Ellyn Food Pantry adapted by hosting online wine and cheese tastings and drive-in concerts and sending out mailers.

By December 2020, they were $100,000 from their goal. "Everyone knows the last $100,000 is the hardest to raise," Nugent said.

Around that time, the JCS Arts, Health and Education Fund of the DuPage Foundation vowed to match donations up to $50,000. It took just six more weeks to raise the remaining $100,000.

"We were floored," Nugent said.

Next, the food pantry encountered the challenge of its initial builders pulling out of their agreements. That, coupled with the fluctuating prices of lumber amid coronavirus, made things more difficult, but Nugent and her team did not lose heart.

Ultimately, they signed on with the West Chicago-based Green Light Construction Group, breaking ground on May 12.

"To be able to start construction is just so exciting to all of us," Nugent told Patch.

Transforming A Parsonage Into A Pantry

The plan is to transform an old parsonage that was donated to Glen Ellyn Food Pantry by Faith Lutheran Church in 2019. Whereas the exterior of the parsonage will remain unchanged, the interior will be renovated to allow for easy shopping and delivery access.

"We really liked the idea that the house looked like a home," Nugent said, because the food pantry is "creating a home for [its] clients."

The lower level of the parsonage will be gutted and turned into a waiting area and a spacious shopping area, which allows clients of the food pantry to use shopping carts and have greater choice in the food items they select.

The second floor will be used for organizational offices and a classroom space that Glen Ellyn Food Pantry hopes to use to provide education about healthy cooking and food options in the future.

The newly renovated parsonage will also include several ADA-compliant features, including an elevator, two accessible bathrooms and a ramp for entering and exiting the facility.

Volunteers will be onsite to escort clients to the back parking lot when they're done shopping and help them load groceries into their vehicles.

In addition to renovating the parsonage, builders will construct a storage facility onsite to help the food pantry keep up with its increasing need for food storage.

The new location at 55 N. Park Blvd. will also put the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry closer to the Roosevelt Road corridor, which should make it easier for more clients to reach.

About Glen Ellyn Food Pantry

Glen Ellyn Food Pantry was started in 1979 by a youth group at Grace Lutheran Church. Since then, the pantry has grown to include 14 Glen Ellyn churches and community partners that serve a dozen municipalities throughout DuPage County.

Click the link to donate to Glen Ellyn Food Pantry. Click the link to view the current items needed at Glen Ellyn Food Pantry.

They owe much of their ongoing success to members of the community, Nugent told Patch.

She said, "It's just such a wonderful community effort. We're very touched."

Related:

Glen Ellyn Food Pantry To Break Ground On New Headquarters May 12

Glen Ellyn Food Pantry Nears Goal For New Headquarters