Dermody Properties Foundation Donates Check to the Respond Now Food Pantry in Sauk Village.

CHICAGO – Reno, NV-based Dermody Properties Foundation recently donated a credit worth $12,000 to the Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD) to benefit the Respond Now Food Bank in the south suburban village of Sauk Village.

Founded in 1969, the 40-year-old, the Chicago Heights, IL-based Respond Now is a United Way agency, serving the emergency needs of residents in Chicago’s south suburban area.  According to a recent study by the GCFD, several southern suburbs are in the top 10 communities with the highest unmet food needs.  It estimates that between 5,000 and 10,000 people annually face homeless in this area, including the fastest-growing demographic group – women and children.

“We would like to thank DP Partners for their generous donation of $12,000 to the Respond Now Food Pantry,” said Lewis Towers, Mayor of Sauk Village.  “With DP’s assistance, Sauk Village held its first Holiday Food Basket give-away on Wednesday, December 16. Respond Now volunteers packed special food baskets of turkey dinners with all the fixings and put a smile on the faces of more than 200 families in need,” he said.

In September of 2007, Respond Now opened the food pantry in the Edward W. Paesel Community Center at 21701 Torrence Avenue in Sauk Village.  The pantry, open every Tuesday between 10 AM and 2 PM, offers families in need non-perishable foods, canned goods and bags of fresh bread and pastries. “DP Partners’ gift was a large one and a wonderful surprise.  It will help us feed between 40 and 50 families each week,” said Carl Wolf, Respond Now Director.

“We have been an active corporate citizen of Sauk Village since March of 2005, when the trustees of Sauk Village voted unanimously to select DP Partners as the master developer of its 325-acre tract of land as a premiere business park, known as LogistiCenterÒ at Sauk Village.  Giving back to our communities has always been important to our Chairman and CEO, Michael C. Dermody, and Sauk Village has been an important component of our success,” said Andy James, Partner-Midwest Region for Reno, NV-based DP Partners, a member of Dermody Properties.  In 1993, Sauk Village, a municipality with just over 10,000 people, annexed a 500-acre parcel, including the development site.

            Located approximately 20 miles due south of Chicago’s Loop in suburban Cook County, LogistiCenter at Sauk Village is bounded by Illinois 394 on the east, Cottage Grove Avenue on the west, Sauk Trail on the south and Canadian National Railway lines on the north.

“We hope our donation helps our neighbors in the short term; however, we are in the business of attracting jobs, which is an important component to the long-term solution,” James said.

Since 2005, DP Partners has developed three facilities totaling 1,531,630 SF.  The third spec building, completed in 2008, is 100 percent leased. According to James, when completed, the park will accommodate approximately 5,000,000 SF of high-cube distribution and manufacturing space, representing between 500 and 1,500 jobs to the region.