This holiday season, Optima is giving back to our community through a food drive for Lakeview Pantry. We’re excited to engage with a neighborhood institution near and dear to the Lakeview community and to play our role in their mission to end hunger in Chicago.
Lakeview Pantry celebrated their 50th anniversary this year, having been in operation since 1970. A small and dedicated group of neighbors began the initiative as The People’s Pantry of Lakeview, serving nearly 100 people in their first year. Since then, the pantry has grown to a team of 30 staff and 5,000 volunteers, providing nearly 4 million meals to 100,000 individuals in 2020. Lakeview Pantry has also adapted their services to meet the needs of the community, incorporating Online Market orders and community pop-ups alongside critical social services such as mental health counseling, job search support and crisis intervention.
From Thanksgiving to Christmas, our office is doing its part to collect food donations in-office which will be dropped off at the pantry. It’s important to us to contribute to local causes, especially around the holiday season, when everybody deserves a full belly and a full heart. Last year, we collected food for Deerfield Pantry alongside pet food for Meals on Wheels in Northeastern Illinois.
As we continue progress on Optima Lakeview, we look forward to discovering more ways to give back to our new community in the future.
