A Shout-Out to Our Awesome Volunteers!

By Karleen Hubbard
HSP Intern

Because I am astounded by the compassion, perseverance, and ingenuity of our awesome volunteers, here's an ode to a few who have gone the extra mile...

Mary Beth, one of our dedicated food sorters, surprised us with a generous food drive donation this week. As an explanation, she simply explained to us, “I looked at the bare shelves and worried that our seniors wouldn’t have enough food.” She's right, our shelves are pretty sparse, many of our staff have never seen them so empty.

So Mary Beth took matters into her own hands, and organized her very own food drive by asking around in her neighborhood. She said, "I wrote a letter and asked people to give a can or two, but most gave a sack."

Three overflowing grocery carts later, Mary Beth can say she and her Wheaton neighbors made a difference. One woman, man, or child can do so much. You may be equally surprised at how willing your friends and neighbors are to help.




Shortly after Mary Beth's donation came one from the Congregation Etz Chaim in Lombard. We were delighted to hear that they had asked the members of their congregation who attended their Yom Kippur service to bring along a bag of non-perishable foods. Yesterday, we picked up two van-fulls and will be on our tomorrow to pick up another!



Finally, a story about a dedicated high schooler who woke up at 6 am on several Sundays in a row to collect school supplies for HSP. Talk about dedication! He decorated a box which he set out after each of his Church's services to ask people to bring school supplies to fill up the box. Last week, when he brought back what he had collected, it took nearly four of us to carry it inside and must have weighed in at over a hundred pounds!



To all who continue to help us help the needy, we appreciate your creativity and passion when it comes to donating and volunteering. Keep it coming!



I've also included the link below, for those who need a little help getting started on a food drive:

http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4305.htm

Thanks for all you do,
Karleen & The HSP Staff