In January 2000, the food pantry opened its doors to the residents of Algonquin and Lake in the Hills housed in a cold storage facility; that same year, the Village of Lake in the Hills was awarded the Governor's Home Town Award in recognition of this effort. In 2012 we moved to a new location on the Larsen Property and the operation has far exceeded anyone's expectations in terms of scope and service from the initial opening day. Our 2018 monthly averages include: *204 households/month *660 clients/month (232 are children, 100 are seniors) *average distribution is 20,600 lbs of food/month (~31 lbs/person) *Our volunteer base is 182 community members In addition to accepting food donations from local businesses and community members, we are also handling direct pick-up at retail locations to include meat, dairy and produce. This practice has greatly improved how quickly this food can be distributed to our clients. We also nurture onsite garden beds, an orchard and herb garden for the benefit of our clients. Utilizing vertical growing techniques along with the gardens being tended by the Village of Algonquin Waste Water Treatment plant, we grow and distribute upwards of 2,500 lbs of fruit and produce per year. Once harvested, items are distributed through a farm stand set-up to allow time to discuss cooking techniques and recipes. In 2017, we were proud to announce the acceptance of our application to be highlighted on the Smithsonian Community of Gardens website which is a digital archive geared towards helping others understand the meaning and values of gardens in American life. At the end of 2018, 169 gardens have been highlighted, our history is located via this link https://communityofgardens.si.edu/items/show/12314