Congregation Celebrates “Kitchen Capital Campaign Kickoff” Party at MPM’s Showroom
NORTHBROOK, Ill., May 7, 2012 – The congregation
of the Northfield Community Church got a taste of some new things that will be
cooking in their kitchen, courtesy of MPM Food Equipment Group.
On Saturday, May 5, MPM hosted an open house for
the congregation at its showroom in Northbrook, to showcase some of the great
new kitchen equipment that MPM has bid for installation in the church. Find out
how you can partner with us by calling us at (847) 297-6762 or toll free at
(800) 976-6762. If you would prefer, you can click the MPM contact page and
submit your information.
The Church wanted a gathering “to give our
congregation a chance to view the type of equipment we want to acquire for our
remodeled kitchen, to wine and dine the members, and to collect pledges to the
Kitchen Capital Campaign that is going to pay for the project,” said Susan
Allen, one of the cohosts of the event, along with Jean Miller.
“Our congregation approved a Kitchen Capital
Campaign on April 22,” she said, “and we asked people to come to this event and
bring their pledge cards.”
“The Northfield Church wanted to host an event to
celebrate the new kitchen,” said David Fallon, MPM’s director of food service
sales. “They were going to have it at the church, but they mentioned that the
congregation members would want to see some of the equipment. So we decided to
have it at the showroom.
“Some of the congregation members made hors
d’oeuvres,” he added. “We had some tables, some cocktails, and some music. We
helped do some of the hosting while doing an introduction to the new
equipment.”
Allen said, “At our annual congregational meeting
on May 17, we will ask our congregation to approve the expenditure to remodel
the kitchen this summer. This is dependent on how much money we raise between
now and then.” She added that she believes the Kitchen Capital Campaign Kickoff
did its job to help raise some money.
Ovens at Age 50 Needed Replacing
“Last spring, while preparing for our church’s
60th anniversary celebration,” Allen said, “Jean and I found out that the
50-year-old ovens in our church kitchen were not holding temperature properly
and parts were no longer available for them.
“We reached David Fallon,” Allen added. “He came
over, looked at our kitchen, and explained to us that it would not be as simple
as buying replacement ovens. Ovens are no longer made in the size we have, and
venting requirements are different. These changes require other changes in our
kitchen, which triggered village requirements for which we have previously been
grandfathered.
“Jean and I met with the village to understand
what needed to be done to remodel the church kitchen, got approval from our
church council and trustees to form a kitchen committee, hire a kitchen
designer (Tom Laws), and most recently to launch a Kitchen Capital Campaign to
pay for the improvements. Jean and I are hoping that Northfield Community
Church will be able to complete this remodel this summer.”
“The new equipment will make the kitchen more
efficient” Fallon said. “Tom Laws of Alpha Design did the layout of the new
kitchen. This will better enable the church to handle events.”
A Positive Outcome for MPM and the Community
Northfield Community Church will be using this
equipment to help fulfill the vision statement of the church, which is “to be
an oasis of grace in the heart of the community in which all are welcome.”
Since its founding, MPM has been committed to
being engaged in the community as a positive member. Hosting this open house is
nothing new, in fact, Fallon said. “We had an open house in the showroom in
November, so we’ve done this before.”
Larry Nicholson founded MPM in 2003 with the
mission to offer the highest-quality food equipment and design services while
providing the best customer service in the industry. “The Northfield Community
Church is just a few blocks away,” Nicholson said. “It just makes sense to have
this at our showroom so that everyone can see just what they are getting.”
About MPM Food Equipment Group
Representing the finest food equipment
manufacturers in the business, MPM teams with a large group of trusted partners
to provide support, design, installation, product training and service to
deliver projects on time and on budget.
