Supporting Local Food Truck Vendors

The Obama Presidential Center is a historic project that will have a lasting impact on neighboring communities, Chicago as a whole and the people involved in bringing it to life.

At every stage of the project, Lakeside Alliance has been intentional about opening windows of opportunity for residents and small business owners who want to be a part of it, even if they don’t work in the construction industry. Whether it’s maintaining the on-site trailers or providing lunch for workers, we want to ensure that diverse businesses of all kinds are able to benefit from this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

On June 20, we invited diverse food truck vendors from around the city to attend an informational session at the Lakeside Alliance Resource Center. Attendees gained access to educational and financial resources to help them grow and learned how they can get involved in the OPC project in a meaningful way – by providing delicious and diverse cuisine to the people working on site.

Pamyla Brown, diversity and inclusion lead for Lakeside Alliance, joined Rufus Williams on WVON radio to share information about the event with food truck owners, saying, “the intentionality behind what we do at Lakeside Alliance is to make sure that anyone who wants to be involved can get involved.”

Williams asked, “Why food trucks?”

“Because people don’t think about the opportunities that come as a result of construction projects,” Brown said. “We want people to know about the great food vendors we have around Chicago. This gives them an opportunity to take part in the construction of the OPC...Folks gotta eat, right?”