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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Northfield Community Church Tastes the Future
at MPM Food Equipment Open House
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.
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 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.
For more information, visit MPM at http://www.mpmfeg.com/ or call 1-800-976-6762.
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