Drake Garden Food Pantry

Hello friends and neighbors! Please spread the word that we REALLY need some donations at the moment!
Any nonperishable items are ideal, but produce that can stay fresh on a shelf for a few days is OK too.

As always, we are OPEN 24/7
Thanks so much, DGFP

Summer is still on! Let's celebrate it! 🌞 The annual Drake Garden Block Party is THIS coming Sunday Aug 20th from 11am-3pm!

Music, Dancing, Games, Snacks, Drinks, Community, Fun! 🥳

ALL are welcome! 🦋

And if you can spare it, bring a can for the pantry to share it! 🌹

This is happening tomorrow! Please spread the word, donate or come collect!

Thanks!!!

Good morning friends!

REMINDER: We are now accepting donations & are open 24/7! 💜

Greetings friends and neighbors!

We have a brand new, beautiful (and permanent) food pantry at Drake Garden and are now accepting donations of food items (nonperishable food items and fresh produce that doesn't need to be refrigerated), toiletries, and diapers. We are NOT accepting clothing donations due to lack of space, so please take those to your local thrift shop :)

As always, the pantry is unlocked OPEN 24/7 for those who wish to use it and is always open for donations. (Please see updated photos for reference)

Peace & Love, DGFP 🌹

Summer Greetings everyone!

FYI We have a brand new food pantry being built for us right now! The red ribbon should be ready to cut by mid-June and we'll be accepting donations once again!

We started this during the first weeks of the pandemic, and it's great that it'll now be a more permanent part of our beautiful Drake Garden!

Peace, Love, Solidarity, DGFP ❤️☀️🌱

Greetings neighbors,

Please share widely and donate if you can! Peace, DGFP
🕊🕊🕊

This just in! 😍

We did it ya'll! A new & much-improved Drake Garden Food Pantry with garden shed and shelter is ON! HUGE thanks to our amazing Alderwoman Rodriguez for bringing the Participatory Budgeting process to the 33rd ward! Without her, projects like this would not be possible.

Onward! ❤🌼❤

Albany Park Getting More Public Spaces, Community Food Pantry Upgrades, Street Repairs In Latest Ward Budget The majority of neighbors said they wanted half of the ward's discretionary funding to support better infrastructure across the 33rd Ward.

Happy 2022 everyone!

The 1st winter storm has landed, the temps are droppin', but the pantry remains OPEN 24/7 for ALL who need it! (We checked it yesterday and it is reasonably stocked.)

If you'd like to donate something, please avoid items in glass containers and fresh produce, as both will freeze/break.

Also, a proposal was submitted to the 33rd Ward Participatpry Budgeting process to fund the building of a brand new permanent Drake Garden food pantry/shed/signage! Once the vote tallies are official, we will share them with you!

Stay safe and take care of each other, Love, DGFP
🌼🌺🌸🌱

Big plans for 2022? YES! Build a brand new, permanent food pantry (we need it) within a new shed and signage for Drake Garden! We need YOUR VOTE to help make this happen! 33rd ward participatory budget voting goes down this fall- please vote for our project to keep the garden transformation train a-rollin'!

Hi neighbors! Today from 11:00 to 1:00 will be the last Veggie Swap of the season. It's been an awesome experience connecting with the neighborhood and sharing food, but the demand has just not been remotely close to what it was last year. We certainly hope that is because there is less need in the community because more workplaces are open!

We plan to continue sharing our garden produce by leaving it at the Love Fridge next to Honey Butter Fried Chicken on Elston & Roscoe: details in the comments. We hope that folks with extra garden produce or other perishable foods to share will do the same! If the economic situation changes and we see that there is demand, we may restart the Veggie Swap later in the season.

Please don't leave perishable food in the Drake Garden Food Pantry in this weather. We have had to throw away a lot of spoiled food, and we know there is still food insecurity in the community and hate to see good food wasted. If you have perishable food to share and no way to get it to the Love Fridge, message us - we may be able to assist.

In the meantime, happy gardening!

Come join us!

www.facebook.com

Veggie swap until 1:00 today! Come join us!

We’re here now with veggies and herbs to share! So far we have:

Cucumbers
Potatoes
Squash
Kale
Broccoli greens
Purslane
Mint
Sage
Thyme
Lemon balm

Estamos aquí ahora con vegetales para compartir! Por el momento tenemos:

Pepinos
Papas
Calabaza
Acelgas
Verduras de broccoli
Verdolagas
Menta
Salvia
Tomillo
Bálsamo de limón

Join us at 11:00 today for the veggie swap! 4643 N. Drake: be there or be square.

(Full disclosure: we won’t have squash unless someone else brings them - the photo is from a couple of weeks ago. Lots of greens and herbs, though!)

We're famous! Let's make it an ongoing national movement. https://www.aarp.org/home-family/your-home/info-2021/victory-gardens-make-a-comeback.html?fbclid=IwAR2dAfEwKrt3eW5o3H8Jti7zeQBE1eMSnWvhxxi4HqA_GgYBdGq6YoTPV9w

War Era Victory Gardens Make a Comeback Made popular during WWII they’ve reemerged during the pandemic and allow gardeners to donate excess produce to help fight hunger within their community.


A kind neighbor donated fresh produce to the pantry today! Please help yourself! 🍏🌽

We are here until 4 pm with free seedlings, seeds, and vegetables! Stop by and say hello!

Happy Friday friends & neighbors!

Spring is upon us, and alot of wonderful projects are happening at Drake Garden now! We'd love you to stop by, take a seat under 1 of the blossoming trees, have a nice stroll through the flowers and enjoy some sunshine....when you visit, feel free to bring a donation or 2 for the pantry :) Or feel free to take whatever you need from it!

It is for ALL 🍞🍎🥫🥕

Thank you for your continued donations and support! Keep spreading the word! Peace, DGFP

Hello friends & neighbors!

Now that the weather is warming, it is no longer wise to donate meat or dairy items to the pantry. If you do have those items, please donate them to the Love Fridge on Elston in back of Honey Butter.

FYI As of now, the pantry has bags of onions, potatoes and apples as well as beans & pasta! If you or someone you know needs those or other food items, please come get them!

As always, the pantry is OPEN 24/7 and is always unlocked!

Peace, DGFP

Drake Garden is collaborating with The Floral Heart Project and Marked by Covid on recognizing Monday March 1st as an unofficial National Day of Mourning. To mark this day, a floral heart will be placed in the garden and we will have a candlelight vigil at 6pm. This event will join 100+ grassroots memorials taking place on this day across the nation in an effort to recognize the first Monday of March as COVID-19 Memorial Day.

All are welcome this Monday March 1st at 6pm in and around our beautiful garden. Let us know if you have any questions.
Peace 🌹

Greetings everyone!
Some news on this cold, snowy day: Our pantry is FULLY stocked! Please spread the word to friends, neighbors, organizations, churches etc, and anyone else who may need aid. We have a variety of various food- canned items, grains/pastas/cereals, and bags of apples & onions (which are being stored inside. If you want these items, contact us!)

Secondly, if you wish to donate: We are in need of diapers, personal hygiene items, masks, and staple grains.
Due to the frigid temps, please do not put fresh produce in the pantry. If you wish to donate perishable food, contact us directly and we can make a plan for that.

Thanks so much, stay safe, stay warm!
🌹

For our family, friends, and neighbors. Please share widely!

Stay safe, be well 🌹

Hi neighbors! The pantry is pretty full tonight, so if you or someone you know needs groceries, please stop by 4643 N. Drake anytime! The pantry is open 24/7.

Hello Drake Garden Food Pantry folks,

We are contemplating a bulk order of veggie seeds that are easy to grow for home gardeners who may not have a lot of space or veggie growing experience. What kinds of seeds would you be interested in trying to grow? These are all things that can be grown in pots and/or without much sunlight. Remember the giant piles of chard we brought every week last year? Much of it came from half a packet of leftover seeds that we grew along one edge of a patio!

Beets
Chard
Green beans
Kale
Lettuce
Peas (these might need a fence or trellis to climb)
Radishes
Turnips

Is there anything else you want to try growing, either for your own household or to share with the Drake Garden Food Pantry?

Hi neighbors, would you like to grow your own veggies and herbs in the spring? If you have as little as a spare windowsill and a pot or container of any kind, give it a try! We are thinking about bringing seeds to share in the spring- what would you like to try growing, for yourself or to share? Also a great educational activity for kids?

Hi neighbors, this is what’s in the pantry tonight. It’s pretty full, so please stop by and take what you need! We would have posted a photo of all the cans on the bottom shelves, but the battery ran out.

Hello neighbors! If you need food today, there's plenty to spare in the pantry - here's a photo taken about an hour ago. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Good morning ya'll!

For this week of giving and thanks, we'd LOVE to receive any donations of food, diapers, supplies, and anything else you'd like to give to the pantry! Some of the main needs are meal staples like rice, pasta, beans, as well as jarred sauces, cereals, crackers, chips, toiletries, and fruits/veggies with longer shelf-lives (like potatoes, onions, squash, carrots, oranges, apples).

As always the DGFP is OPEN 24/7, so please donate at your own convenience and spread the word to anyone in need!

Take care, stay safe, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
🥕🍎🍞🍊🌽

Drake Garden Food Pantry updated their information in their About section.