Volunteers Help HSP get ready for the Big Day!

Living Lord Lutheran was busy helping us prepare for the upcoming Delivery Day for Feed the Kids next week.

Dan McLeod, one of HSP’s interns from University of Wisconsin-Madison, led the group as they helped package boxes and organize the back to make next week a success.

Living Lord Lutheran has been helping HSP through donations and volunteer work for many years. They have donated school supplies and have held multiple food drives.

Living Lord Lutheran is one of the many groups that have come to help HSP prepare for Feed the Kids. Feed the Kids takes place through the summer and needy families for the months of June, July and August. Each family receives a box filled non-perishable foods, frozen meats and fresh fruits and vegetables.

If you are interested in volunteering or want to learn more, please contact HSP at

Humanitarian Service Project

465 Randy Road

Carol Stream, IL

T. 630.221.8340

E. hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Website: humanitarianserviceproject.org

HSP Gets Published!!

We have been very fortunate to get some great press coverage recently that we want to share with you. We had two feature articles on our summertime Feed the Kids program show up in the Daily Herald and Carol Stream Press/Wheaton Leader newspapers.

The Daily Herald and the Carol Stream Press both sent reporters and photographers on June 8 to cover our Feed the Kids distribution day.

We were so thrilled to have them here that day, and even more thrilled when we picked up the newspaper on June 17. The Carol Stream Press had us on the front page had some amazing photos to go with the story about Feed the Kids. On June 23, The Daily Herald published our story on the front page of the Neighbors section. We were so surprised! Both articles were so beautifully written. To check out both of these articles follow the links below:

To the Daily Herald: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110622/news/706229965/

To the Carol Stream Press:

http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/carolstream/features/x1260731543/The-Humanitarian-Service-Project-supplies-food-to-low-income-children-in-Carol-Stream-neighboring-areas

Please check out the link on the Carol Stream Press to look at additional photos that are just as amazing.

The Feed the Kids Project fills the nutrition gap for low- income children when school is out for the summer. These children, who receive the majority of their daily nutrients from federally subsidized meals at school through the School Breakfast Program and National Lunch Program, experience a drastic reduction in nutrition during the summer months and often go hungry. By providing their families with a total of 750 pounds of food in June, July, and August, the Feed the Kids Project is able to relieve the hunger and stress that these needy children face. Each food package contains nutritious, vitamin-rich foods - 9 varieties of fresh vegetables, 9 selections of fresh fruits, 7 selections of frozen meats, at least four 25-pound boxes of non-perishables, and child-friendly healthy snacks.

Thanks to Lisa Kimball, our volunteer professional PR coach for her contacts and insight into getting press coverage. Please share these links with your friends and family. You may inspire someone to get involved with this vital program!

West Chicago’s Park District Helps Out

West Chicago’s Park District stopped by today to volunteer. They were helping to pack non-perishable food into boxes for Feed the Kids.

Amanda, Mona, Zoe, Franki, Christian, Caitlin, and Josh did a fantastic job helping get all of the boxes ready to be delivered. These boxes will be 25 lbs. each once they are full of non-perishable foods from a specified list.

Feed the Kids is just one of the programs over at HSP. Each family receives about 100 lbs. of non-perishable foods along with 7-8 frozen meats and fresh produce for a total of 200-250 lbs. of groceries each month. The Feed the Kids Program helps needy families throughout the summer, distributing boxes in the months of June, July and August.

Thank you for all your hard work!

UPS Holds a Food Drive for the HSP as Part of Their Employee Committee Carnival

UPS held their annual picnic for their employees in Bensenville location and made a food drive a part of it.

With approximately 300 employees there, employees were encouraged to bring in a non-perishable food item and in return they were entered into a raffle for gas and gift cards.

For their outdoor carnival they decided to make HSP their designated charity of choice. To celebrate this, they invited Paul Yambrovich, HSP’s Community Outreach Coordinator, to the event. He explained all of HSP’s projects to the employees and handed out brochures.

Bensenville’s UPS location is a great friend to HSP. They have volunteered and helped support many of HSP’s programs. In addition, the Carol Stream location recently has decided to take part in HSP’s Senior Citizen Project and has sponsored a senior!

Thank you UPS for all your help through the years!

Thank you Access Care!

Earlier this afternoon, Mariel Marte, Samantha Concepcion, and Val Rodriguez from Access Care were kind enough to donate a box full of school supplies to HSP's School Supply Drive.

Mariel is an administrator at Access Care of Naperville, a home health care provider which helps seniors live independently in the comfort of their own home. Access Care covers a wide range of services that utilizes treatment and preventative care which minimizes hospitilization and delays the need for long-term nursing home care. We are very fortunate to be able to work with Access Care in order to fulfill the medical needs of our seniors. Mariel was eager to have her interns Samantha and Val take a tour of HSP's facility after dropping off their donation.

Access Care's donation was a huge help to HSP's School Supply Drive. Since 2002, HSP has been distributing school supplies to families whose financial difficulties make it challenging to buy suitable school supplies for their children. HSP believes every child should have the supplies necessary to succeed during the school year and we really appreciate any and all help we can get to accomplish our goal!

If you are interested in donating school supplies to HSP, the supplies needed are

- Crayons

- Loose-Leaf Paper

- Pens

- Folders

- Colored Pencils

- College -Ruled Notebooks

- Rulers

- Wide-Ruled Notebooks

- Highlighters

- Pencils

- Scissors

-Glue Sticks

- Magic Markers

- Calculators

- Erasers

Donations are accepted Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm at

Humanitarian Service Project

465 Randy Road

Carol Stream, IL 60188
Tel #: (630)- 221-8340

E-mail: hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Goodbye Katie

Today HSP is sad to say goodbye to one of our amazing interns who has been with us since January! Katie is going to school at Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago and she is working on her Master’s degree in forensic psychology there.

While Katie has been here she has worked on the senior updates for the Senior Citizen Project. When asked what she will miss about HSP she said, “It will be sad to leave all the other interns and everyone working here, we have had a great time getting to know each other while working to help out the community.”

After her internship, Katie will be spending most of her time working at her other job and in September she will be starting her Clinical internship at Sertoma in Matteson, IL. Katie will also be very busy the rest of the summer planning her wedding!

HSP is sad to see Katie go but we know she will be furthering her career and education and we hope HSP has given her experience for the future.

Thank you Katie for all your hard work and dedication, we will miss you!

Thank You Alleluia Lutheran Church!

This morning, Joann Jackson and Heather Smith from Alleluia Lutheran Church delivered a van filled with food to be used in our Feed the Kids project this summer. They conducted a food drive through their Vacation Church School camps, which are composed of over 350 children from Kindergarten to the fifth grade.

It is obvious that Joann and Heather were the driving force behind the success of the church's food drive. Their enthusiasm about helping the less fortunate in our community was apparent in how they managed to collect and donate such a great amount of non-perishables to our Feed the Kids Project. During their camps, they raffled off seven adorable stuffed panda bears. The children received a raffle ticket for each food item they brought in to donate. We imagine Joann and Heather must have been handing out raffle tickets all day long!

Joann and Heather said the children were excited about the food drive and learned about the importance of helping other, less fortunate children in their community. Joann said, "Our church also helps children in other countries every year, which is great and we love doing it. We also want to help the people that live in our communities. Well tell the children, 'this could be going to your neighbor.' We tell them that they can have such an impact right here."

We are extremely thankful to Joann, Heather, and the Alleluia Lutheran Church for their generous donation. The church has been working with us and the communities we serve for many years. They have been helping us with food drives, toy drives, and the Children's Birthday Project since 2003. We greatly appreciate the tremendous amount of generosity they have shown throughout the years.

UPS Comes in to Volunteer!

Nearly 11,000 lbs of fresh produce arrived last Friday morning - a variety of fruits and vegetables that each senior is thrilled to receive every month. And the UPS volunteer team arrived the same day in the afternoon to sort all this beautiful produce based on individual senior’s needs. We want to thank Kyle Speirs and the UPS Volunteer team for supporting us and once again making a difference in lives of needy seniors.

We also want to thank our Friday volunteers for working with the UPS team to help sort these fruits and vegetables.

Saturday, 120 senior citizens received fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen meat, bread, and gifts given to them by “Secret Pals” – dedicated kind-hearted people who provide gifts every month to their seniors.

Thank you to everyone who believes in the work we do. Your support is important to us, and your help goes a long way to make a difference in our community!

Volunteers Commit 3 days to help

Three times this week, First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton has stopped by to volunteer. They were helping sort food for Feed the Kids which is to be distributed on July 6^th.

With about 25 volunteers spread between the three days, First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton has been dedicated to helping HSP for over 10 years.

The volunteers who came in on each day were focused and organized and ready to help with whatever task for that day. Each group worked extremely hard and helped HSP greatly.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the Humanitarian Service Project at:

465 Randy Road, Carol Stream, IL 60188

Tel. #: (630) 221-8340

Email: hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Discount Tires, a Friend of HSP

HSP is happy to say that we have recently recognized Discount Tires as a friend of our project! Discount Tires has shown that HSP is a charity that they believe in and we are proud to have them helping us.

We would like to thank the whole team for their kind helping hand to our charity. We are thankful for friends like Discount tire, Thanks again!

If you are interested in Discount Tires please visit:

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/home.do

If you are interested in helping out HSP please contact us at:

Humanitarian Service Project
465 Randy Road
Carol Stream, IL 60188
Tel #: (630)221-8340
Email: hsp@humanitarianservice.org
Website: humanitarianservice.org

How Can I Help?

One of HSP’s amazing summer interns has updated our front bulletin board for us this week! Lauren Gregorcy, a senior at Furman University has busily been working all week to make a great bulletin board about our Summer School Supply Drive.

The Humanitarian Service Project is currently collecting school supplies for local, impoverished children in Kane and DuPage counties. If parents are unable to provide the materials necessary to support their children’s education, their potential may be limited and they may feel embarrassed. Your donations are truly supporting the next generation!

School supplies are something that HSP believes every child should have when going back to school every year and we are looking forward to all the donations that will help us accomplish our goal.

If you are interested in donating to HSP, the back to school supplies needed are:

-Crayons -Black/Blue/Red Pens

-Folders -Colored Pencils

-Rulers -Highlighters

-Loose-Leaf Paper -College-Ruled Notebooks

-Pencils -Wide-Rules Notebooks

-Glue Sticks -Calculators

-Scissors -Erasers

-Magic Markers

Donations are accepted Mon-Fri from 9:00am-5:00pm at:

Humanitarian Service Project
465 Randy Road
Carol Stream, IL 60188
Tel #: (630)221-8340
Email: hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Thank you for your support!

A Special Donation from an Amazing Kid

Anthony just celebrated his 6th birthday and is already giving back to the community.

Yesterday Anthony and his mom walked in and donated brand new toys for the Children’s Birthday Project.

After having a birthday party with all of his friends, Anthony got to open the gifts and choose a few to keep. The rest of the gifts Anthony and his mom decided to donate.

The Children’s Birthday Project helps 700 impoverished kids in the local area. Each kid receives a party in a box and it includes 6 to 15 new toys, books and more.

If you are interested in donating new toys to the Humanitarian Service Project, Please contact us at:

Humanitarian Service Project
465 Randy Road
Carol Stream, IL 60188
Tel. (630) 221-8340
Email: hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Website: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/

We Welcome In Another New Intern!!

HSP welcomes a new intern, Dan McLeod, for the summer. Dan is going to be a Junior at University of Wisconsin Madison.

Tuesday was Dan’s first day and he has been helping Sarah, our Senior Citizen Project Coordinator, with making phone calls for Saturday’s Delivery to the seniors, and helping making phone calls for the Back to School Fair.

Dan is studying Economics and is going to be a Junior this fall. He plays in the drum line in the marching band and is looking forward to marching madness.

He chose HSP because “it will give valuable office experience and you help make a difference in another person’s life.”

Dan will be at HSP until the middle of August and is excited to be here!

If you are interested in helping out HSP by being an intern please contact us to set up an interview at:

Humanitarian Service Project
465 Randy Road
Carol Stream, IL 60188
Tel. (630) 221-8340

Poverty: A Common Burden amongst Senior Citizens

Senior Citizen’s are amongst those that are most adversely affected in times of economic downfall (Rittner & Kirk, 1995).With the current economic state of our country, there are low income senior citizens that deny themselves a meal so they may preserve their financial resources. Many senior citizens at the poverty level are forced to face overwhelming medical bills, high living expenses, and rising prices in everyday items, such as cleaning supplies and items for hygiene. With limited financial income, these obstacles often become insurmountable.

The experience of financial strain often leads to a number of psychological problems (Gonyea, 1994).While these hardships are evident within senior citizens, it is often avoided by the general population (Rittner & Kirk, 1995).This psychological distress is permeated through the negative stereotypes that are now associated with this population (Rittner & Kirk, 1995).

During times of economic recession, senior citizens are often disproportionately affected by economic cutbacks (Rittner & Kirk, 1995).

It would be negligent to deny that there have been programs developed to face growing levels of poverty (Nicholas & Wiseman, 2010). Some of these programs incrude:

Supplemental Security Income

Subsidized housing

Medicare & Medicaid

While these programs have been established, they have not been promoted within society. The limited information provided about these programs could be a direct result of the negative stereotypes held about the elderly population (Gonyea, 1994). Many senior citizens are unaware of the programs that do exist. This lack of knowledge has lead to even greater financial instability (Rittner & Kirk, 1995).

The financial turmoil experienced by senior citizens is often denied by the general public. The schematic beliefs of society are those of financial security and prosperity

¤ “ For elderly people, this picture is further complicated by a pervasive belief that they are basically financially secure and exempt from economic hardships” (Rittner & Kirk, 1995, p.365).

¤ “During this period of fiscal crisis, society has begun to blame both the aged and the poor populations as the causes of this financial strain” (Gonyea, 1994, p.39).

The process of aging can be difficult for many individuals. Adjustments to lifestyle and acceptance of changing ability often lead to psychological distress (Broderick &Blewitt, 2010). Some changes that the elderly must face include:

¨ Cognitive Change

¨ Chronic Illness

¨ Dependency

Pairing these factors of aging with the struggles of poverty leads to increased feelings of (Broderick & Blewitt, 2010):

¨ Perceived Burdensomeness

¨ Thwarted Belongingness

When there is an increase in perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness, suicidal ideation is often stimulated. In the last few years, research has shown a significant increase in suicide rates amongst the elderly (Broderick & Blewitt, 2010).

The stereotypes and biases held against senior citizens are perpetuating poverty within the elderly. Educating the public about the influences of these stereotypes may deter their development and affect. Many programs focus their attention on the biological needs of those that they serve. It is time for the psychological needs to be acknowledged and addressed.

References:

Broderick, P.C., & Blewitt, P. (2010). The life span: Human development for the helping professionals (3rd ed.).Upper Saddler River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Gonyea, J.G. (1994). The paradox of the advantages elder and the feminization of poverty. National Association of Social Workers, Inc., 35-43.

Nicholas, J. & Wiseman, M. (2010). Elderly poverty and supplemental security income, 2002-2005. Social Security Bulletin, 70, 1-30.

Rittner, B. & Kirk, A. (1995). Health care and public transportation use by poor and frail elderly people. National Association of Social Workers, Inc.,10, 365-373.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

HSP is looking for volunteers for this Saturday June 25^th to help with our Senior Citizen Project Delivery Day! We are looking for eager volunteers that can come here to our office in Carol Stream where you will pick up boxes of food for 2 seniors, we will load your car and also provide you with maps of where to deliver the food to.

Each month HSP delivers to 120 needy seniors providing them with 90 lbs of fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen meats, non-perishables, and also personal care and paper products.

The following delivery routes still need to be filled for our delivery day this Saturday:
If you are interested in helping out HSP by delivering food to these impoverished seniors please contact us as soon as possible.

- 2 Seniors in Bensenville - 2 Seniors in Woodridge - 2 Seniors in Bensenville - 1 Senior in Woodridge/1 Senior in Willowbrook - 1 Senior in Lombard/1 Senior in Wheaton - 2 Seniors in Aurora

If we have not worked with you before we would need the names and numbers of 2 professional references.

Humanitarian Service Project
465 Randy Road
Carol Stream, IL 60188
Tel #: (630)221-8340
email: hsp@humanitarianservice.org

We look forward to hearing from you soon and we hope you can come to HSP’s rescue!

Welcome Matt!

Today HSP welcomes a new intern, Matt! He is currently a management major at Elmhurst College. After graduation, Matt plans on running his own non-for-profit business to help those in poverty.

Today, Matt has helped Sarah, our Senior Citizen Coordinator, with creating boxes for our Feed the Kids Program. In addition, Matt has also been working on finding libraries willing to display our informative Feed the Kids posters!

When asked why he chose to work with HSP, Matt replied, “HSP is an organization that does meaningful work for low-income families, and working here will help me to understand how not-for-profit organizations run.”

Matt is with HSP until September and is excited to work for such a great cause!

If you are interested in helping out HSP by being an intern please email us at: hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Helping out HSP

This morning HSP had a group of volunteers stop by to lend a hand with getting ready for our July pick-up day of the Feed The Kids Project. A group of 11 volunteers from the First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton came by to help us make up the boxes for our July 6^th pick-up day.

The group was able to help us get part of the non-perishables that we give to the families into boxes. The Feed the Kids Project fills the nutrition gap for low- income children when school is out for the summer. These children, who receive the majority of their daily nutrients from federally subsidized meals at school through the School Breakfast Program and National Lunch Program, experience a drastic reduction in nutrition during the summer months and often go hungry.

HSP provides these families with a total of 750 pounds of food in June, July, and August, including nutritious, vitamin-rich foods - 9 varieties of fresh vegetables, 9 selections of fresh fruits, 7 selections of frozen meats, at least four 25-pound boxes of non-perishables, and child-friendly healthy snacks.

We are thankful to have such a hard-working group of volunteers help us out with the Feed The Kids Project today!

A Great Group of Volunteers!

Yesterday HSP was lucky enough to have some great volunteers working with us! We had around 15 volunteers from St. Petronille Church, Glenbard North High School, and West Chicago Community.

These volunteers were able to put together 100 boxes for our second food pick-up day for Feed The Kids Project on July 6^th! The volunteer group from St. Petronille Church was with us today working hard from 1:30-3. The other helpers we had with us today were here the whole day.

Everyone volunteering got a tour of the building by Paul, our Community Outreach Coordinator and we are so grateful for all the hard work they put into helping us out here at HSP. Our Intern Lauren, who was working with the volunteers for most of the day said, “I am so proud of all the effort they put into getting these boxes together, they are part of the process of getting this nutritional food to our needy families and they were a great group to work with!”

HSP is always looking for volunteers, please contact us if you are interested in helping us out at:

Humanitarian Service Project
465 Randy Road
Carol Stream, IL 60188
Tel. #: (630) 221-8340
Email: hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Another Intern Joins HSP!

HSP is excited to bring on another intern for the 2011 summer! Michelle Flinn who will be a senior at North Central College in Naperville has begun working here at HSP this week.

Michelle’s major is Organization Communications with a minor in Broadcasting. After graduation she would like to work in public relations or media relations. So far, she has been working with Paul, our Community Outreach Coordinator in doing press releases and she has already been published online!

Michelle found HSP through her school and is looking to get office experience and an understanding of how this organization helps all the needy seniors, children, and families in our programs. When asked what interested Michelle in working with HSP she said, “I am excited to be able to see how this amazing organization helps all the deserving people in their programs.”

Yesterday was Michelle’s first day and she will be with us until late August, we know she will do great things to help out HSP!

If you are interested in helping out HSP by being an intern please contact us to set up and interview at:

Humanitarian Service Project
465 Randy Road
Carol Stream, IL 60188
Tel. (630)221-8340
Email: hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Great to Have You Here, Sumaiya!

Today HSP is excited to have Sumaiya Shahjahan, a new volunteer working with us. Sumaiya is a sophomore from Glenbard North High School and she has been busy all morning wrapping presents for our Children’s Birthday Project. She Plans on volunteering with HSP throughout the summer and we are so thankful to have another helping hand!

Sumaiya’s father suffers from glaucoma and seeing the struggles her father goes through have inspired her to give back to the community by helping us out here at HSP. She understands that through volunteering here she will be helping the needy seniors, children, and families in our programs.
Sumaiya got the idea of volunteering from her 16 year-old cousin who has been volunteering in a hospital. She is also excited because these volunteer hours she is putting in here at HSP will contribute to the volunteer hours necessary to graduate high school.

HSP is grateful for all the effort that Sumaiya is putting into helping us out and we can not wait to have her with us this summer!

If you are interested in helping out HSP please contact us at:

Humanitarian Service Project
465 Randy Road
Carol Stream, IL 60188
Tel. #: (630)221-8340
hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Congratulations Sue Martinelli!

Yesterday, volunteer Sue Martinelli, picked up the Ervin Kendoza Book of Golden Deeds Award from the Naperville Exchange Club, an award given to volunteers who go above and beyond to help our community.

Sue has whole-heartedly embraced this mission ofHSP, participating in multiple projects including the Christmas Giving Tree program, our Secret Pal program, our Monthly Meals program, organizing multiple food drives for HSP, and donating several large items to our seniors including TVs, microwaves, vacuums, and VCRs.

Sue has contributed so much to HSP, and has surpassed our expectations in her drive to cater to her senior Secret Pals. With the creation of our Monthly Meals program, she chose to deliver meals to her Secret Pals though they were on opposite sides of DuPage County. Once meeting one of her pals, Juanita who was in her late 80’s at the time and had no family support, Sue felt an instant bond and had a desire to help.

Sue and her family have helped Juanita repair her home, given her rides to the doctor and eye appointments, comforted Juanita in times of struggle, and of course, supplied delicious monthly meals. Sue has even helped Juanita celebrate her 92^nd birthday this past April.

Even though Juanita has since moved out of her home into an assisted living center and is no longer in our program, Sue continues to visit Juanita on a regular basis, and lookout for her well-being.

Sue is not only an exceptional volunteer, she is also a compassionate, and caring woman. In her speech, Sue said, “The joy from volunteering fills my heart and soul.”

Sue unfortunately unable to attend the ceremony because she had to work at the hospital—again caring for others. We were able to accept the award on her behalf, and yesterday she was able to pick it up at our center.

We at HSP congratulate Sue, and we are so lucky to have the pleasure of working with such an inspiring individual!

Thank You Triumph Packaging!

A day full of smiles here at HSP! Scott Ward, the President of Triumph Packaging in Bolingbrook, has generously donated 2 pallets equating to 700 boxes to the Children’s Birthday Project.

The boxes donated will be used for containing the Birthday Boxes for our 700 impoverished children. Birthday Boxes are given to children from ages 3-12 in order to help them celebrate their big day, when they would not necessarily be able to otherwise.

The boxes donated will contain a Party-In-A-Box kit, which includes everything needed for a birthday party for 6-8 children, 6-15 toys, 6 books, school supplies, and more. The donation of these boxes is amazing!

We would also like to thank the driver, Jim Kernats, for donating his time and effort in delivering these boxes. We at HSP are so appreciative of Triumph’s Packaging donation; we simply cannot express our thanks enough!

HSP’s Press Coverage

At our first pick-up day for our Feed The Kids Project June 8^th, HSP had reporters and photographers from the Carol Stream Press and Suburban life documenting the exciting events that took place.

HSP wants to let all our blog and Facebook readers know that on Friday June 17^th we will be featured in an article, with some great photos taken from the event, in the Carol Stream Press and Suburban Life, both available in print and online. We could not be more excited!

The photographers did a wonderful job of showing how delicious all the food looked and how energetic all our volunteers were at the event. Pictures from the event are already available to see online and they look terrific!

So do not forget to check out those articles about HSP on Friday!

Here is the link to some great pictures from the event from Suburban Life: http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/photo_galleries/x1841756864/Feed-The-Kids-Project

Paper Products Needed!

HSP is in need of paper products, especially Kleenex, for our needy seniors! As you know, allergy season is approaching and our seniors are experiencing the sneezing and sniffling that comes along with this time of the year.

We would love to provide our needy seniors with enough Kleenex to last them from allergy season through flu season and any donations would be very helpful! Our supplies are low for the upcoming months and paper products are in demand for our seniors.

Did you know according to the FDA, seasonal allergies or allergic rhinitis affects over 35 million people a year? You can help relieve some of this discomfort by helping our impoverished senior citizens with Kleenex donations.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or need any other information. All donations can be dropped off at our office:

Humanitarian Service Project
465 Randy Road
Carol Stream, IL 60188
hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Interested In An Internship?

HSP is looking for hard-workers that are enthusiastic about helping us out! We have three summer interns, Lauren, Michelle, and Alaina keeping busy around the office and we are always looking for more helping hands. If you enjoy making a difference in the life of the impoverished seniors, children, and families in our programs and in our community then this is the place for you!

Michelle has been working on the senior’s referrals for important things that they need including dentures, hearing aids, walkers, canes, and referrals to Lens Crafters. She will also start writing press releases.

Lauren has been working on writing Thank You’s for our senior monthly meals. She will also begin making calls to drivers to make sure they can volunteer for our Senior Delivery Day on June 25^th.

Alaina has been working with Paul, our Community Outreach Coordinator, on press releases. Press releases are a great way to thank our volunteers for all the support and donations they have given us, and already she has been published in online newspapers including The Daily Herald.

Please contact Sharon, our Administrative Assistant to set up and interview for an internship here at HSP. We look forward to hearing from you!

Email: hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Phone number: (630)221-8340

Thank You McDonalds!

This Friday, Chris Roach, a department head from McDonalds, brought in 50 beautifully wrapped Party-In-A-Box kits for our Children’s Birthday Project. Thanks to McDonalds, 50 children will now be able to have a party celebrating their birthday.

The items they brought will make a big difference in the lives of our children, and we are so thankful for their kindness!

A Party-In-A-Box kit is included in the Birthday Boxes given to each of the 700 local, impoverished children of our Children’s Birthday Project. These kits include everything needed to throw a party to celebrate when their big day arrives!

Each Party in a Box kit that McDonald’s donated contained:

· Cake Mix

· Frosting

· Candles

· Balloons

· Streamers

· Cups, napkins, plates

· and Party favors!

Each 30lb Birthday Box also contains 6-15 new toys, new books, school supplies, stuffed animals, and many other items.

Their generosity will make the children in our program very happy. HSP is very grateful to have the support of McDonalds. We cannot thank you enough for all of your thoughtfulness and generosity!

Hurray for the Boys Scouts of Troop #597!

Ethan Koska of Boy Scout Troop #597 in Naperville and fellow scout Gabriel Drechsler, along with Ethan’s mom, Gert, stopped by the Center to drop off a wonderful donation of Party-in-a-Bag kits for the Children’s Birthday Project (CBP). Ethan heard about the program to help needy kids have a “Special Day” and became inspired to help out. He watched local stores' advertisements to find new toys on sale and visited the Dollar Store for party favors to make his philanthropic dollars go farther. He also sent a flyer out to the troop to recruit others to help. Gabriel responded and assembled a generous amount of party fixings and toys as well.

We would like to acknowledge Ethan and Gabe for being true leaders and for taking the Boy Scout tenet of “service to others” to heart and helping to brighten the birthdays of the children in our CBP program!

A Day Full of Success!

Everyone here at HSP is full of good attitudes and smiles! We had a very successful day yesterday with the first pick up day for the Feed The Kids Project. With about 100 families stopping by HSP to pick up their first of three installments of non-perishables, fruits and vegetables, meats, and breads weighing in at about 250 lbs. The crew here agrees that things could not have gone more smoothly.

HSP is very grateful to have had a great bunch of volunteers with us yesterday including a group from Charter One, who were excited to do all that they could to help out. "Volunteering for Feed the Kids was a very memorable experience and I can say that on behalf of all of my Charter One colleagues who participated,” said Don Broderick, a senior vice president in the bank’s commercial real estate group. “Its clear that HSP’s team is very dedicated to serving the community’s needy. I‘m confident my Charter One colleagues will volunteer again soon in the future."

We were lucky that the rain held off until this morning and everyone was able to survive the hot temperatures by finding shade and standing by HSP’s very own hand-made water mister! We are looking forward to working with these enthusiastic volunteers in the future and are very grateful for all their hard work.

Feed the Kids June Pick-Up Day

This morning, we are busy with our first Feed the Kids pick-up day of the summer.

We have a wonderful group of volunteers helping us out this morning and we would not be able to accomplish such a big event without them. A group from Charter One drove in from the city this morning and left before 8am to allow time for traffic. Despite their long trip, they are ready to help and eager to start.

We also have volunteers who have helped us with Feed the Kids and various other projects in the past. They are excited to work with us again and have come prepared for the high temperatures. Some even brought a cooler so they can keep their water and other drinks cold.

We are looking forward to working with new volunteers as well. We love seeing new faces of people who sincerely believe in what we do and who are happy to help the needy families in our community.

Our big day has begun and a number of families have already picked up their food! We will see a total of 100 families throughout the day today. Each family will receive 250 pounds of food today and a total of 750 pounds by the end of the summer.