Construction Update #4: We’re Getting Close!
We’ve got big news! We’re nearing the end of construction, and will soon be able to celebrate the opening of our Food Club & Opportunity Hub! While we’ve had construction and delivery delays (as almost anyone building right now has), we’re grateful to our construction and furniture partners for their hard work to keep everything moving forward. We’re happy to share we’ll be opening for guest services on October 25th!
Here’s some of the key construction milestones we’ve recently passed:
Our walls are all painted, and doors are hung - including our main entryway that will begin welcoming guests at the end of October!
Flooring and fixtures are (mostly) in, and we’ll soon complete the cabinetry and countertops of our demonstration kitchen.
Furniture is (mostly) installed, and we’re so excited about the welcoming, inviting, space our partners at Haworth and Interphase, Custer and Steelcase, and Herman Miller and Trellis, have all helped create for our community.
Meanwhile, our team is working hard behind the scenes to make sure we, our partners, and our guests are all ready for this new service when we open at the end of October.
Our teams are preparing to move our services over to Food Club. Just this week, we’re beginning to shift all of our supplies and inventory to Food Club store rooms.
Our staff is readying to move themselves - and some of us will begin moving to our new space as early as the end of September. Some of our files are already packed and on the way!
Our Guest Services and Food Pantry teams are working with a group of dedicated volunteers to ensure we contact all of our past guests to ensure they understand our move and transition. Already, hundreds have signed up and expressed interest in being Food Club members on day one.
We’re also planning a series of opening celebrations, which include a big Community Celebration day on Saturday, October 23rd.
So many of our partners are leaning into this big change, and we have over 160 volunteers who have committed to regular volunteer shifts to power our efforts at the Food Club. A special thanks to so many of our church partners who have adopted regular volunteer shifts together!
Speaking of which - we are still seeking volunteers to help power Food Club! Greeters, stockers, checkout “cashiers”, food sorters, and so many additional roles will need to be filled, at far greater hours than our current food pantry offers. Groups from work or faith communities, families, individuals, and everyone from students to seniors are invited to contribute to credibly enhance the accessibility of healthy food.
If you’re ready to sign up for shifts, you can do so here.
If you have a group of 5-8 folks who would be interested to committing to fully ‘adopt’ a full shift each month(church, family & friends, business, etc), let us know here, and we’d love to work with you!
If you’re not sure exactly when or where you’d want to plug in, let us know what you may have interest in here and we’ll be in touch!
We’re proud to be working with so many of you to provide this incredible new resource so well aligned with our community’s present needs. Thank you for your support and your interest. We are a community-powered institution, and we’re in this together.
Stay tuned for more updates to come, and help spread the word! It takes a movement!
On October 25th, we celebrated with our community as we launched Food Club. After years of planning, and a community-wide campaign joined by hundreds of individuals, businesses, foundations, and churches, this new cornerstone of community service welcomed its first guests.