said.

Kass says they will be building the pantry as soon as it is approved by the village, with work tentatively set to begin in August and the food pantry hopefully opening in November.

Church members originally hoped the building would be done sooner, but Kass says having to wait wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“It’s given us time to refine our plans, give us a better sense of what we need to be doing,” he says. “If we built it five years ago, we would have built a slightly different building. Having extra time has given us more of an opportunity to think through what we want to do.”

The plan now is to have the pantry be 40-by-60 feet, with a walk-in freezer to store produce and meat, and aisles somewhat like a grocery store with food ready to be distributed. It will also have an area for pet food.

“We want to help this underserved community, with real practical needs,” Kass said. “We don’t only want to help feed their spiritual needs.”

One area of the population Kass has seen with significant needs is retirees who only have their Social Security to live off, and other individuals who have jobs that might not make a lot of money.

“Glendale Heights is not a wealthy community,” Kass said. “There’s lots of need and we’re glad to try to meet those needs.”

Don Summers, a member of the church who worked extensively to bring the food pantry to the church property, said challenges with raising money came with a slower economy, but things have picked up and they have been receiving more donations recently.

“It’s an ongoing thing,” Summers said.

Donations even came in on the day of a groundbreaking ceremony at the church, with one anonymous donor giving $16,000.

Maria Ghanayem, a volunteer at the food pantry and member of the church, says the permanent building was needed.

“For us not to be in the heat, trying to get food out so it’s not thawed, or not spoiled, to have a food (pantry here), you can’t believe it,” Ghanayem says. “This is going to be a blessing for so many people.”