Music For Food featuring Spektral Quartet at PianoForte Studios November 22

Sunday, November 22, 2015, 5 p.m.
PianoForte Studios
1335 S. Michigan Ave.
Admission: Monetary donation and/or non-perishable food items
Event Web site

Thanksgiving is synonymous with gatherings of family and celebrations of abundance, but it is also an opportunity to consider those for whom food is far from plentiful. This November, Spektral Quartet expresses its own gratitude by partnering with Music for Food to bring much-needed food to hungry people in Chicago with a rousing concert benefiting the South Loop Community Church Food Pantry.

Internationally renowned violist and program founder Kim Kashkashian launched Music for Food as a community-based initiative to transform talent into real world hunger relief for those in need. Music for Food has provided over 200,000 meals during its six-year tenure, with the goal of addressing the everyday, long-term effects of hunger on children and families. A 2012 USDA report found that 20% of Americans live in food-insecure households, and Music for Food aims to help lower that staggering number.

The Spektral Quartet will perform Schubert’s Quartettsatz, Cage’s Quartet in Four Parts, Prokofiev’s String Quartet No. 1, and Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge for any attendee making a monetary or non-perishable food donatioin at the PianoForte Studios on November 22. While the admission process may be out of the ordinary, the program is characteristically diverse for Spektral, taking the audience from the Romantic melodrama of the Schubert to the Zen-like stillness of Cage, and from the lyrical twists of Prokofiev through the ecstatic counterpoint of the Beethoven.

The Spektral Quartet’s concert marks the second Music for Food event in Chicago, led by cellist Mira Luxion. For this event, concertgoers are offered incentives for giving beyond the suggested $20 donation. Donors at the $50-or-more level will be invited for drinks with the quartet following the concert, and gifts of $100 or more will provide a Thanksgiving basket to a South Loop Pantry client as well as an invitation to post-show cocktails. Donors are requested to make their contributions by November 18, to secure their seats.

For queries and interview requests, please contact doyle@spektralquartet.com. For Music for Food inquiries, please contact Mira Luxion at miracello@gmail.com.

Fresh produce returns to the food pantry

This Saturday (October 24), fresh produce will return to the South Loop Community Church Food Pantry, 1347 S. State Street. Starting this month, the food pantry will be offering fresh produce, along with their regular food distribution, on the fourth Saturday of each month.

The food pantry is open every Saturday 9 – 11 a.m. serving those in need in Cook County. Clients can come to the food pantry every week if they need to.

South Loop Community Church to offer women’s clothing for sale

South Loop Community Church, 1347 S. State St., will be offering new and gently used women’s clothing the third Saturday of each month starting September 19, 2015. The time will coincide with the hours of the church’s food pantry, 9 – 11 a.m.

Name brand and designer clothes for women on racks for browsing

For $20 ($30 for a larger bage) customers will get a shopping bag (see picture below) that they can fill with clothes. All sales will be in cash. No checks, no credit cards. There will be no returns, exchanges, or layaways. There is no limit on shopping. Clothes for sale will include designer and name brands.

For $20 you can fill the above bag up with clothes.

The church will still  offer donated, gently used clothing for both men and women free of charge.

Join Benny’s Chop House in the fight against hunger

Join Benny’s Chop House in the fight against hunger as part of the Second Annual “86 Hunger” campaign.

During September 2015, Hunger Action Month, enjoy our S’Mores Cheesecake, and 10% of sales will
be donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

The S’mores Cheesecake is the perfect way to end your evening at Benny’s Chop House!

Lunch and dinner, 11:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m.

444 North Wabash 312-626-2444
www.bennyschophouse.com

Music For Food Concert On April 12 To Benefit South Loop Food Pantry

CHICAGO – On Sunday, April 12 at 5:00 p.m., a group of acclaimed young musicians from the Chicago area will present a concert at the PianoForte Foundation, 1335 S. Michigan Ave. in Chicago to benefit the South Loop Community Church Food Pantry.

The Chicago musicians are presenting the concert under the auspices of Music for Food, a musician-led initiative for hunger relief. Mira Luxion, the organizer and one of the participating artists, comments: “I am thrilled to be presenting this Music for Food concert, hopefully the first of a lasting series in Chicago. From the moment I first heard of Music for Food, I was moved by its mission. As musicians, we are given the capacity to touch people in tangible as well as intangible ways. The performers are dear friends and colleagues and it is truly inspiring to be working with them towards this mission.”

The program offers works by Austrian composers Mozart, Schubert, and the lesser-known Carl Frühling:

PROGRAM
Mozart: Duo for Violin and Viola in G Major, K.423
Lauren Lai, violin
Kim Uwate, viola

Mozart: Andante from Sonata No. 9 in D Major, K.311
Eugenia Jeong, piano

Schubert: Selection of Lieder
Anne Slovin, soprano
Eugenia Jeong, piano

(Intermission)

Carl Frühling: Clarinet Trio in A Minor, Op. 40
Steven Gooden, clarinet
Mira Luxion, cello
Andy Costello, piano

TICKETS AND QUESTIONS
Those attending are asked to bring a monetary donation (cash or check made out to Music for
Food) or non-perishable food items. Questions about the concert may be directed to Mira Luxion:
miracello@gmail.com, or 312-513-6422.

Images from the client BBQ

On September 27, 2014, the South Loop Community Church Food Pantry held a BBQ for clients. The weather was perfect and we had a great turnout. The weekend was one of the nicest this season, but we’re bracing ourselves for another cold Chicago winter.

The food pantry is open every Saturday from 9 - 11 a.m. The food pantry serves residents of Cook County. Clients may visit the food pantry every Saturday. Fresh produce is distributed the first three Saturdays of every month. All food is available at not charge. Clothes are distributed, during food pantry hours, the second and third Saturdays of every month. We have clothes and accessories for men, women, and children and are available free of charge.

For more information on the food pantry, click on the about tab at the top of the page.

Client BBQ this Saturday September 27, 2014

The South Loop Community Church Food Pantry, 1347 S. State St., will host a BBQ for food pantry clients, Saturday September 27 from 12 to 2 p.m. There is not cost to attend.

The menu will consist of beef and turkey hot dogs, chips, cake, lemonade and iced tea.

The food pantry will be open for its normal food distribution (9 to 11 a.m.) on the 27th.