Due to new vaccination requirements in Cook County for certain activities, we have chosen to cancel our wine tasting that had been planned for Friday, January 7th.
We also wanted to reiterate our mask policy at the store, that everyone shopping at the store will need to wear a mask in accordance with state and local laws. We had relaxed our stance a bit in the past, usually wanting to avoid confrontations with customers not wearing masks, but with increased Covid positivity rates we will be going back to asking each person to please wear a mask while shopping in the store. We have masks available if needed.
Additionally, we will continue to offer curbside pickup for customers who prefer it, just give us a call at the store at 708-448-9114 and we will help you with collecting your order and then will bring it out to your car when you arrive.
We really appreciate your help with this and for supporting us! ❤️
Our Ongoing Food Drive
Pass Health Foods is a permanent drop off location for the Palos United Methodist Food Pantry for people to drop off non-perishable food donations. Unfortunately, hunger is always a problem in our country, but especially with the fallout from COVID, even more people are in need.
This is a crazy time for all of us, but as a community, we can get through it by pulling together and choosing to help other people. It’s a simple way to make a difference in another person’s life who may be having a difficult time.
If you or a person you know is in need of food, the Palos United Methodist Food Pantry is located at 12101 S Harlem Ave. in Palos Heights and their food pantry hours are Tuesdays from 9-11 am and 4-6 pm. The Palos United Methodist Food Pantry is our local branch of the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Our store is located at 7228 W. College Drive in Palos Heights, and donations will be accepted every day during our store hours, and then we will bring them to the pantry to donate.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” –Helen Keller
We are SO grateful to all the people who have been donating to the food pantry. We've been bringing large loads of donations to the food pantry about every two weeks. Thank you so much to everyone who has brought food items in. It's been so encouraging seeing so many people who want to help others.
In addition to non-perishable food items, the food pantry also accepts personal care products. See the image below for more details:
Food Pantry Donations
We at Pass Health Foods have decided to become a permanent drop off location for the Palos United Methodist Food Pantry for people to drop off non-perishable food donations. There are lots of food drives around the holidays, but especially with the fallout from COVID, many people are in need.
This is a crazy time for all of us, but as a community, we can get through it by pulling together and choosing to help other people. It’s a simple way to make a difference in another person’s life who may be having a difficult time.
If you or a person you know is in need of food, the Palos United Methodist Food Pantry is located at 12101 S Harlem Ave. in Palos Heights and their food pantry hours are Tuesdays from 9-11am and 4-6pm. The Palos United Methodist Food Pantry is our local branch of the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Our store is located at 7228 W. College Drive in Palos Heights, and donations will be accepted every day during our store hours, and then we will bring them to the pantry to donate.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” –Helen Keller
For more information on the food pantry, you can visit their website here.
We're Reopening on June 1st!
We are excited to announce that beginning June 1st, Pass Health Foods will be reopening to the public with extended modified hours- we will be open from 10-4 Monday through Saturday.
Face masks that cover the nose and mouth will be required to shop in the store, though we will also have inexpensive face masks for purchase. We will have a basket of individual $1 face masks outside of our door. If you do not have a face mask, please take one to put on before entering the store, and you can pay for it with your other purchases.
Maintaining social distancing while shopping is also very important, and we ask for everyone’s help in ensuring that everyone stays safe. This is a new experience for all of us, so we appreciate your patience in navigating these uncharted waters.
We will have hand sanitizer at our entrance and at both registers that we encourage everyone to use as they enter the store and during check out.
The health of our staff and customers is of our utmost importance, and we will be doing everything we can to ensure that everyone stays healthy and that our store is a safe place to be, including regular cleaning and sanitizing practices, plexiglass counter guards, and social distancing. Even with those measures, however, we do recommend that at-risk groups like the elderly or those with compromised immune systems continue to choose our curb side pickup option.
We will continue to offer curb side pickup for the foreseeable future, so to place an order for pick up, please call the store at 708-448-9114 or email us at passhealthfoods@gmail.com and we will bring your order our to your car when you arrive.
Also, while we’ve been closed, we’ve been trying to make improvements to the store, so this terrible time isn’t a complete waste- we have switched all the lighting in the store to environmentally friendly LED lights and are working on installing new flooring. This is not how we anticipated out 25th Anniversary Year to go, but we are very grateful to have such wonderful customers who continue to support us during this crazy time.
Regarding face masks, we do have a supply of surgical masks available at the store if you need to purchase a mask. Additionally, we have ordered masks for our personal use from a woman on a website called Etsy and have been very pleased with them. They have straps that go behind the head which I believe are more comfortable that those that go behind the ears. We aren’t in any way affiliated with her store, I just wanted to share a link to the ones we ordered since they are well made and fit better than others I’ve tried (here’s the link to the masks).
Celebrating 25 Years in Palos Heights!
2020 is a year of celebration for us at Pass Health Foods! It marks our 25th year in Palos Heights, something not many small businesses can boast of. We are so grateful for our customers who have supported us through the years!
Sisters, Joanne and Theresa, bought Pass Health Foods back in 1995. At the time, both sisters had been working for the same company and were “downsized” and lost their jobs. They thought it would be wonderful to go into business together. They were interested in health, and were shopping at health foods stores regularly, so when they saw Pass Health Foods was for sale 25 years ago, they thought it was a great opportunity.
Owning a small business gave them flexibility (and it was small- the store was half the size back then) since they were both caring for their aging father at the time. The business gave them the ability to have one person work while the other took care of their dad. For a long time, it was just Joanne and Theresa working at the store, working in shifts to cover all the hours, with some extra help from Theresa’s mother-in-law, Betty, and a couple other family friends.
Margot Rosenstein was the first real employee at the store, who started back in 1998, and she still works one day a week even now. Margot used to be a caseworker at the Cook County Juvenile Court, which I feel is a surprise to people who know her now, since she is so sweet and soft spoken. She retired from the court in 1997 and had been a customer at the health food store when Theresa was pregnant. After Theresa had her son, Sam, she asked if Margot wanted to work there, and she’s been with us ever since!
Many other family members and friends have worked at the store over the years and some, like Erick and Sarah, continue to this day.
I, Carolyn, am Theresa and Joanne’s niece and stared working at the store in 2002, and then Liz, the other store manager began working at the store while I was pregnant with my daughter, River, in 2010. Liz worked on the PTA with Theresa at their son’s schools, and after getting to know her, Theresa asked Liz if she’d like to work at the health food store with them.
Much at the store has changed over the years, though much has stayed the same too. We still carry many of the same supplement lines that we did when the sisters bought the store back in 1995. There have been lots of fads and trends, but I think we’ve stayed true to our mission of really trying to help people, and to be a place where people can come for trusted advice and information on natural health.
In addition to celebrating our 25th year, we are also celebrating that Liz and I (Carolyn) are now going to be part owners along with Joanne and Theresa. We’re all excited for this next chapter, and in looking forward to the next 25 years in Palos Heights.
To celebrate, we will be having a reception at the store on Saturday, January 4th from 12-2 with all of us and our families together. Please stop by for a piece of cake and to say hello! In addition to a regular cake, we'll also have a gluten and dairy-free cake for our customers with dietary restrictions.
Mayor Straz of Palos Heights will also be in attendance and has said that he will be proclaiming January 4th as Pass Health Foods Day. We hope to see you all there!
Theresa, Carolyn, Joanne, and Liz, Co-Owners of Pass Health Foods