Whether you’re dining with family, friends or colleagues, Egg Harbor Café has earned a reputation for innovative dishes prepared with locally sourced food and delivered with stellar service. Since it opened in 1992, the Barrington location has been a preferred choice for guests, including business and nonprofit professionals seeking to build relationships in person, over breakfast or lunch.
Let It Be Us Founder & Executive Director, Susan McConnell is just one example of a local leader who builds momentum with her team when they share a table for a working lunch at this local treasure. Susan is the latest contributor in our series highlighting what brings us Together at Egg Harbor Café.
Let Be Us Finds Food for Thought – #TogetheratEHC
by Susan McConnell, Let It Be Us Founder & Executive Director
As Let It Be Us prepares to celebrate its 5th birthday, our work to inspire foster care adoptions in Illinois now has the advantage and the power of a small staff. That’s a big step for a startup nonprofit. We operate out of the smallest office at Barrington’s White House, right next door to Egg Harbor Café in Barrington, Illinois.
As the Founder and Executive Director of Let It Be Us, I nurture a lot of different relationships with donors, grantors, volunteers, supporters, and our staff. In business school, and in life, I have learned that business is personal. Whether you work at a for-profit or a nonprofit, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. And there’s nothing in the world that brings us closer than spending time together nourishing our bodies with healthy food and nourishing our souls with the passion for our work.
While we’re together, we get to know each other on a more personal level, which I feel always leads to a better understanding of each other in our work. At Let It Be Us we operate in a space that’s so unique that every time we do something it’s the first time it’s been done. That means it’s completely up to us to create innovative programming to reach our lofty goals. In turn, I need a creative staff to operate within this realm. A creative staff demands a catalytic environment, and Egg Harbor Café offers that.
Today at our working lunch we brainstormed how to find parents for the hardest to place children, how to further capitalize on the increasing opportunities to reach parents through social media, how to navigate the TV and radio spaces available during November which shares National Adoption Awareness Month and the upcoming elections, and how to quickly tell our donors and grantors about our success stories.
We went around the table one at a time speaking about what was on our minds regarding each of our projects. While we don’t interrupt, we allow crosstalk. I like the atmosphere at Egg Harbor Café because it has tables that offer the feeling of privacy and yet we don’t feel too secluded. The service is always a study in the best of customer service. And the eclectic menu, including the organic orange blossom green tea, is always a real delight.
While we have the rest of our days and nights to communicate over cell phones, texts and emails, I see spending time with my coworkers over a meal at our favorite restaurant as an important investment in the success of our work at Let It Be Us where, while we are already 5 years old, we have truly only just begun. Learn more at LetItBeUs.org. #LetItBeUs #TogetheratEHC
Located at 125 W. Main Street in the heart of downtown Barrington, Egg Harbor Café offers great service and delicious breakfast and lunch specialties. Intelligentsia coffee freshly brewed and brought to your table in a carafe. Made-to-order specialty beverages from the espresso bar. Efficient, friendly service for business diners. Creative daily specials. A children’s menu and coloring contest for families. A gluten free menu with amazing gluten free pancakes and cinnamon rolls from Sweet Ali’s Gluten Free Bakery. Authentic stone-ground grits from Allen Brothers Milling Company. Many fresh, healthy options from locally owned and operated businesses plus patio dining during warm weather months! Learn more at EggHarborCafe.com.
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