About the Pantry

The Hyde Park Kenwood Food Pantry, a member agency of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, has been in operation for nearly 40 years on the mid-South Side. For the last 25+ years we have been located at the Hyde Park Union Church, which is a valuable partner in our work, and makes available to us its grand spaces, including the Social Hall, which is transformed into a grocery store on Saturdays. The former Director of the Food Pantry, Jan Deckenbach, served for over 30 years and her vision has left a lasting impact on the pantry. We implement a client choice model, such that we don’t tell people what to eat, but we offer what we have for them to choose.

The pantry offers an assortment of fresh fruits, vegetables, frozen meat, fish, and nonperishable groceries to its clients. It serves an average of 110 households, or approximately 340 persons each week, with 1/3 of them being children. The pantry distributes approximately 25,000 pounds of food each month, primarily from the Greater Chicago Food Depository and local partners like Hyde Park Produce. Also, from July to October each year, the community garden at 62nd and Dorchester shares its freshly picked produce with our neighbors, and every week we participate in a food rescue program with a Jewel-Osco store in McKinley Park.

The pantry’s service boundaries include anyone residing within zip codes 60615, 60653 and 60637. Neighbors who live within these boundaries can pick up food twice a month. All who come are served on their first visit.

The Hyde Park-Kenwood Food Pantry relies on outstanding volunteers to set up its “grocery store” on Friday afternoons from 3:00-4:30 and run the operation on Saturdays, serving an average of 110 households in three hours, between 10:00-1:00. Volunteers (who typically are here from 9:30 until 1:30) perform tasks such as welcoming guests, staffing tables, escorting neighbors, packing orders, managing bag flow, putting stock away, and unloading large deliveries.

Margy Mitchell – Pantry Director

Margy moved to Hyde Park in 1981, and has volunteered at the food pantry for over 20 years. She became Director of the food pantry in January, 2022, overseeing the day to day functions of the operation and strategic planning, and working with Kelli as a leadership team. Margy loves living in this neighborhood and especially enjoys meeting our amazing neighbors who come to the pantry for food each Saturday and working with our super group of volunteers. She also has the good fortune to be a professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School in the field of New Testament and Early Christian Literature.

Kelli Lynch – Deputy Director

Kelli is an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago, where she’s pursuing a degree in urban studies and public policy. Originally from Maryland, she began volunteering for the food pantry during her first year and has appreciated the opportunity to engage with the greater Hyde Park-Kenwood community each weekend.