Andersonville Honors Awards Preview: Good Neighbor Award

The past two days we have shared the nominees for all of our ‘of the Year’ awards that make up the Andersonville Honors:  Arts Organization, Health/Service Organization, Retailer and Restaurant/Bar.  Today we cover the awards that cross through all categories of businesses - the Good Neighborhood Award and the Welcome Addition Award!  Because of ties during the nomination process, both of these awards each have SIX nominees.  

The first is the Good Neighbor Award.  This honor goes to the business that best exemplifies the spirit of community support and customer service.  And the nominees are:

• Brown Elephant is a resale shop that sells everything, from clothing to furniture to jewelry to kitchen supplies. The revenue generated by donations and purchases at the Brown Elephant Shops help fund services for the more than 50% of Howard Brown Health Center clients who are under or uninsured.

• A welcome addition to Andersonville in 2012, First Slice Pie Cafe is a not-for-profit organization whose proceeds go toward helping to feed the needy and the homeless.  First Slice offers a wide variety of homemade pies, salads, sandwiches, community plates, and more.  Plus a weekly meal plan service!   

• GreenSky is a truly local store: they live, work and employ from the neighborhood, and did an historical renovation on the Victorian building that houses the shop and First Slice Pie Cafe. They sell fair trade products made by local not-for-profits and small artisans from recycled or repurposed materials, and 20% of their sweet sales benefit Care For Real, the Edgewater Food Pantry. GreenSky was named ‘Best Eco-Boutique’ by Time Out Chicago in 2012.  And you might see co-owner Thom Greene walking up and down the sidewalks of Andersonville pruning trees!

• Hamburger Mary’s, also nominated for Restaurant/Bar of the Year, supports Chicagoland non-profits with their weekly Hambingo fundraisers, sponsors many sports teams and provides a performance venue independent theater organization and performers in their Mary’s Attic space.  They also take pride in being one of the greenest businesses in Andersonville, for which they received the Eco-Andersonville Award at last year’s Andersonville Honors Gala.  

• Hopleaf has long been a neighborhood favorite, as evidenced by their Restaurant/Bar of the Year award at last year’s Andersonville Honors Gala.  But owner Michael Roper, also honored last year with the Mathiasson Award for Community Service in Andersonville, has also been a huge supporter of our neighborhood schools, creating the popular Kegs For Kids fundraiser.  

• Jameson Loves Danger has been charming the collars off of Andersonville since they opened in 2012, and their weekly Woof & Wine Wednesdays welcome pet owners and their furry friends into their store for a social (and playful) evening.  They also offer 10% off of purchases to the owners of newly adopted pets!   

This award will be presented along with seven others at the Andersonville Honors Gala on Thursday, April 18th at the Swedish American Museum.  In additional to final voting starting on March 1, tickets to this fun event also go on sale that day.  To vote and get more information about tickets, visit www.andersonville.org! You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/andersonville or follow us on Twitter @avillechamber for more updates.