The Cleveland Kosher Food Pantry purchased a new building at 4090 Mayfield Road in South Euclid.
The nonprofit has operated out of a garage, two trailers and some sheds at Semach Sedek Shul at 2004 S. Green Road in South Euclid for more than 20 years, an arrangement it has outgrown, the director said executive Sarah Yaffe Alevsky at Cleveland Jewish News. on April 17.
I think things are going to change dramatically, he said. We will be able to have many more programs for people, many more volunteer opportunities, (we) will be able to serve people better because we would be in a better place
Semach Sedek RIAS Synagogue, operator of Cleveland’s Kosher Food Pantry, purchased the three buildings, formerly owned by Joseph C. Schulte and home to Schulte Mahon-Murphy Funeral Home, on April 17 for $495,000 dollars He paid with donated funds, Yaffe Alevsky said.
Over the past three years, we went through several iterations of construction projects, including renovating our current facility and building from the ground up nearby, said Muriel Weber, Food Pantry Advisory Board Chair , in a press release, announcing the transaction. We came across the Mayfield Road property in January. It is five minutes from our current location and very convenient for the people we serve.
The food pantry was to be part of the proposed Clevelands Friendship Circle campus just a few doors down on South Green Road. However, plans for that campus have been put on hold, executive director Rabbi Yossi Marozov told the CJN in an emailed statement on April 22. This created the need for the pantry to look elsewhere.
Friendship Circles proposed the South Euclid campus in abeyance
The Cleveland Kosher Food Pantry plans to demolish part of the existing structure and add a one-story warehouse. Construction costs will be about $2 million, according to the release.
The organization is working with an architect and project manager to finalize construction plans. There’s no set timeline, but the Cleveland Kosher Food Pantry plans to roll out its capital campaign later in the spring and hopes to start demolition this summer, Yaffe Alevsky said.
The next stage of this project is to raise $2 million to build a warehouse in the back, we have gotten some commitments, but there is a long way to go, he said.
According to the release, plans for the new space include a kitchen, teaching garden, pantry market area and gathering space that will aid in service and expand volunteer opportunities.
The City of South Euclid is very excited to have the Cleveland Kosher Food Pantry remain in town. It reflects their values and is an important mission for the entire community on Clevelands east side, Mayor Georgine Welo told the CJN on April 18.
It’s really what Southern Euclid is all about, he said. It’s about diversity, about helping others, about being a good neighbor, because our slogan is: When you come together you thrive, and so, once again, in this community, there is an organization that brings people together and helps not only South Euclid to prosper, otherwise the east side prospers.
The Cleveland Kosher Food Pantry is a partner agency of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and the Hunger Network. It is one of the busiest food relief facilities in Northeast Ohio, according to the release.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it served just over 4,000 people a month, but due to inflation and rising food prices, that number is closer to 6,000, which includes weekly distributions of food to help around 250 families in the area and deliver food every two months. nearly 1,500 seniors in 11 low-income apartment buildings, according to the release.
It was established more than 40 years ago by Rabbi Zalman and Shula Kazen as part of their efforts to help Russian Jews settle in Cleveland through the Semach Sedek Russian Immigrant Aid Society.
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