The-News-Leader.com - Regional food bank moving to Northfield: Emergency Assistance Center finds quarters in Gabriel Brothers Plaza

by Eric Marotta

Editor

Macedonia The area's food bank is moving to Northfield Village and could use a little help.

The Emergency Assistance Center, a non-profit agency located in the Pavilion building on Valley View Road in Macedonia, is planning to move to new quarters in the Gabriel Brothers Plaza beginning Jan. 19.

"I'm looking for muscle and trucks," said Office Manager Christine Ciryak, who is coordinating the move.

Plaza owner Larry Shafron said the agency will be in the annex between the Northfield Plaza Barber Shop and the police department's satellite office.

Thus far, area Boy Scouts and a few veterans have offered to assist, Ciryak said.

However, the agency's 1,200-square-foot quarters in the Pavilion is stocked full of food that needs to be moved to the new office. There are also six freezers, a refrigerator, desks, files, shelving and other material.

"It's going to be a major haul," Ciryak said, adding the move must be completed by Jan. 21.

Ciryak said that despite the move, the Emergency Assistance Center would still be able to serve around 120 local families it assists on an on-going basis.

"No one is going to miss anything, she said.

Kyle Overmeyer, president of the Emergency Assistance Center, said the move to Gabriel Brothers Plaza would double the charity's rent.

She said rent at the Pavilion was $500 per month, while the new quarters would cost about $950 per month. Though the new office will be larger at 1,500 square feet Overmeyer said the increased cost would cut into the Emergency Assistance Center's budget.

"We're going to have to make it work," she said, adding what little cash the operation has on hand may dwindle and purchases of goods for clients may have to be cut.

"We've already adjusted the budget," she said.

The move became necessary when the owner of the Pavilion, a former school located about one block up the road from City Hall, announced in November she could not pay for repairs mandated by the city to bring the building up to code. The city told tenants to vacate the premises by Jan. 21.

Mayor Don Kuchta said the city could not grant an extension of time for tenants to move because problems with the building, including electrical and structural issues, make it unsafe for habitation.

Summit County last week was scheduled to begin taking steps to move the state automobile license and title bureaus, which were also located in the Pavilion, into the county's offices next to City Hall.

E-mail: emarotta@recordpub.com

Phone: 440-232-4055 ext. 4103