Open Doors at HSP

It seems that our front door is always swinging open at the Humanitarian Service Project. Between the needy families in our Children’s Birthday Project and our dutiful volunteers, we get a lot of visitors everyday. However, today there is a special kind of visitor that we at the HSP would like to recognize. Every so often we get a visitor lugging a big box, with grocery bags dangling from their arms, or toys at their hips. The bags and boxes hauled in by these visitors are always fantastic items for the needy seniors and families that we at HSP serve. Thoughtful donations like these, are always exciting at the HSP, as they allow us to make life a little easier or brighter for those affected by poverty in the area.

Last week, we had a number of thoughtful donors coming in with donations for the people we serve that we would like to thank. There were six fantastic stuffed animals and some book covers and folders brought in by Lillian Majewski, there was a bag toys and personal care items brought in by Nella Fioretta, a computer for a senior graciously brought in by John McGeever, 5 bags of sugar from Diane Riley, three bags of new winter clothes and a bread machine from Neal and Nancy Hickock, 16 “Party-in-a-Bags” made by Elle Holland and her friends, 6 bags and 2 boxes of dolls, sports equipment, games, plush toys, and gift cards from the Young Man’s Service League, and some great puzzles from Jim Gruden. Whew! That is quite the list, isn’t it? We at HSP appreciate all of these wonderful donations that come through our doors to help us reach out to those in need. If you have an item you would like to donate, please call us at 630-221-8340 to see if we could use it to fill a need.

Rising Stocks

In the economic climate we are living in, a lot of people are wary about the stock market. It seems there is nothing to invest in that is consistently gaining ground. However, we at the Humanitarian Service Project have something we would love to invest in (if only it was something you could actually invest in.) That something is coloring books. Think about it, coloring books are always in demand, and always popular. Unfortunately, until they start trading in coloring books on Wall Street, don’t expect any stock tips from us here at the HSP. However, the enduring popularity of coloring books is something we witness first hand at the HSP as they are something we consistently need more of, for the younger children in our Children’s Birthday Project. If you’ve been looking for a way to brighten up the lives of needy children, donating some new coloring books would be a great way to do that.

There are also items, that we are always in short supply of for the older kids in our program as well. Like the coloring books for the younger children, the items in short supply for the older kids tend to be craft items. For girls ages 8 to 11 we have need for: art sets, craft items, journals, small picture frames, small photo albums, bath sets, lip gloss and nail polish. For boys 8 to 11 we could use art sets, craft items (like science kits), legos, and for the less artistically inclined items, nerf footballs/ soccer balls, junior size normal footballs, electronic games, and action figures. A donation of any of these items would go directly to the needy children in our Children’s Birthday Project, to help make their birthdays special. With the help of donations like these, HSP is able to reach out to children whose families are burdened by poverty. You could say that helping others is what we really put our stock in.

From Classroom to Warehouse

Humanitarian Service Project would like to extend our thanks to a group of sophomores from Montini Catholic High School in Lombard, who volunteered in our center as part of the school’s sophomore service day. The students at Montini participate in service days as a way to get active in the community. The Montini students also have a community service requirement of ten hours every year, and the service days better acquaint the students with places like the HSP where they can fulfill that requirement. We think it is fantastic to see young people mobilizing to make an impact in the community, and these students from Montini certainly did a great job.

These students from Montini were working in our warehouse getting food organized for the needy seniors in our Senior Citizen Project, with a great volunteer of ours, Tom Hogan. The students liked working back in the warehouse with Tom so much that they have asked if they can bring a much larger group next year. Considering the fantastic job they did, we are really happy that they enjoyed the work so much. As the Christmas season gets closer and closer, HSP has more need for groups and individuals to do work in the warehouse, to help organize food and gifts for the needy seniors and families we serve. We especially have need in the month of December for adult or high school aged volunteers. If you would be interested in volunteering, please call us at 630-221-8340.

We’re Heating up While the Weather is Cooling Down

It seems with today’s cooler weather that it is finally time to wave goodbye to the unseasonable warmth we’ve been experiencing. However, here at the Humanitarian Service Project, we’ve had our mind on colder weather for quite some time now. With so many needy families coming in to our center to pick up boxes full of toys, books, and party supplies for their little ones with November birthdays, it serves as an extra reminder that the holiday season is just around the corner.

The holidays are a time in which we at HSP really reach out to the needy seniors and children in our projects, and we have several ways in which we have our wonderful volunteers and donors get involved. We especially have need for adult volunteers to come in during the month of December, which is the crunch time in getting the toys and food for our Christmas Offering sorted and organized. We also have more information about volunteering and donating possibilities for the needy seniors and families we serve on our website: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/index.html.

Thank You Little Blessings Preschool!

Humanitarian Service Project would like to extend our thanks to Little Blessings Preschool in Naperville for the donation of 43 bags full of party supplies for the needy children in our Children’s Birthday Project. Holly, who dropped the bags off at our center yesterday for Little Blessings, said they made the bags as part of a service project they do every year. She says each classroom set out to do 2 bags each. The bags look really fantastic, and they are full of a lot of great things that will surely help several needy families hold fantastic birthday parties for their little ones. Again, we want to thank everyone at Little Blessings Preschool for their support, and if you want to learn more about them, check them out here: http://littleblessings.org/.

The bags will go to the needy children in our Children’s Birthday Project, who get several new toys, books, and party supplies to make their birthday special every year through the program. There are a number of great ways you too can help us reach out to needy children on their birthdays, be it through a sponsorship, by donating time and wrapping paper wrapping gifts for us, or any number of other activities. You can learn more about the project here: http://humanitarianservice.org/whatwedo/bdayproject.html.

Thank you St. Francis High Schoolers!

Humanitarian Service Project would like to thank the student government and “J. Kyle Braid” students at St. Francis High School in Wheaton for donating several large boxes of school supplies. The students have brought in four large boxes so far over the last couple of weeks, and there are still more forthcoming. Jake Tibble, a senior at St. Francis, said a number of the students had a friendly competition to see who could collect the most school supplies to help needy students. That is some competition we at HSP can get behind, because we know there are many students whose families have a hard time affording all the school supplies necessary for a productive school year.

The boxes from St. Francis that came in earlier have already gone out to students who needed them, and the box that came in today will also get into the hands of needy children later this week. We want to thank the students at St. Francis, who have helped HSP reach out to so many needy children. HSP would also like to thank all of the other donors who helped with our School Supply Drive this summer and fall. Because of your generous support, HSP has succeeded in getting school supplies to hundreds of children in need of them this school year.

Pepperidge Farm

Saves the Day!

Humanitarian Service Project would like to extend our heartfelt thank you to Pepperidge Farm for a very generous donation of three pallets of assorted bread products. Our project has been blessed to be able to receive such a large quantity of a very much needed dietary staple. The donation, which was received on Friday, had only a few loaves left over by Monday morning! With such a vast donation, HSP was able to spread the wealth to several different organizations. The grateful recipients include Lulu Holquin and the West Chicago Resource Center, Wesley Elementary School in Addison and The People’s Recourse Center.

The bread is such a wonderful donation that provides an essential nutrient to our children and seniors. We at HSP are always thrilled to receive a donation such as this one, because food is always in demand. We would like to thank Pepperidge Farm for the fantastic donation, and all those who help us in our mission to help needy children and seniors in the area. If you would like to make a donation, they can be dropped off at the Humanitarian Service Project Office:

465 Randy Road

Carol Stream, IL 60188

Phone: 630-221-8340

A Tech Savvy Gift

Computers serve an integral role in our daily lives. We probably do not have to tell you that, considering you are reading this on a computer right now. Many people use computers as both a primary means of communication and information daily. Computers are so omnipresent in our society, not owning a computer can be rather inconvenient. However, computer equipment can be expensive, and it is a luxury that the seniors in our Senior Citizen Project can not afford. That is why we at Humanitarian Service Project are so excited to have received a donation of 15 flat screen computer monitors from DSV in Itasca to go to the seniors in the project. These great monitors will help HSP make the lives of the seniors in our program much easier. Thank you so much, DSV!

DSV donated the monitors to us at HSP through Lorena Mazariegos, who heads the local branch of DSV and just so happens to be one of the fantastic volunteer drivers for our Senior Delivery Days. When her company determined they needed a different style of monitors for their computers, Lorena immediately thought about the needy seniors in our project and thought that the outgoing, but still very new, monitors could serve them well. We at HSP want to thank Lorena and DSV for their thoughtful donation. If you have an item that you think would improve the life of a needy senior, please call us at 630-221-8340 to see if we could use the item to fulfill a need for one, or more, of our seniors.

20 Hours is Less Than You Think!

About two weeks ago, we at the Humanitarian Service Project began welcoming students from College of DuPage, who were volunteering to do at least 20 hours of work here as part of the college’s Service Learning Program. Well 20 hours goes by quickly, and we already have to get ready to say goodbye to some of them. The Service Learning students have been a huge help around the office and warehouse, and we’ve done our best in giving them a crash course in everything. For example, Doug, who finished his hours yesterday, did a myriad of different tasks around our warehouse and helped us get ready for the next few months of our Children’s Birthday Project. We are also excited to announce that Jill, one of the service learning students who has already completed her twenty hours, will still be helping out around the office. We want to thank Rebecca, Jill, and Doug, the Service Learning students, for all of their hard work, and, if these three are any indication, we are excited to have more Service Learning students starting soon.

The goal of College of DuPage’s Service Learning Program is “to offer students a chance to master coursework content while making a real difference in the community.” The Service Learning students have definitely been useful in helping HSP make a difference in the lives of the people we serve. We hope the Service Learning students who’ve started already, and those that start soon, will find the experiences gained by volunteering with the HSP rewarding. If you are interested in getting an in the trenches look at the non-profit world, we encourage you to volunteer here at the HSP just like these students. You can learn more about our volunteer opportunities here: http://humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/index.html.

Making the Grade and Making a Difference

Humanitarian Service Project is excited to announce that a large amount of school supplies was picked up, at our center in Carol Stream, to go to needy children at Wesley Elementary School in Addison. There are a number of needy children at the school who did not have the necessary supplies for this school year, so we were happy to get the supplies out to them. The boxes full of school supplies sent to the students yesterday included such things as; filler paper, notebooks, glue sticks, glue, pencils, pens, crayons, markers, color pencils, scissors, book bags and composition books. We will continue working with Wesley Elementary to further help needy children at the school receive the supplies they need to have a fun and productive school year.

These items were donated to HSP to help these needy students by a number of generous donors for our School Supply Drive. This summer, we were able to get school supplies out to hundreds of children directly through their families thanks to the wonderful donations of our supporters. Throughout the fall, we have continued to reach out to students in need of school supplies by making donations to schools, like this one to Wesley. We want to thank everyone who assisted us with our School Supply Drive, your generosity has allowed us to really make an impact in the lives of these needy school children.

HSP Hosts Rotary Club of Villa Park

Last night HSP was delighted to host the Rotary Club of Villa Park’s board meeting. We were happy that board members Susan, Buzz, Karen and Dave took us up on our offer to hold their meeting here, as well as enjoy a VIP tour of our facility. The club has been a supporter of HSP since 2002, so we were excited to have the opportunity to show them just how their support has helped us and the needy senior citizen they sponsor through our Senior Citizen Project. The Rotarians did have quite a drive to get to our center in Carol Stream, but they all left with a smile. We were glad to host them as one way to thank them for the fantastic support they have shown us through these years.

Groups like the Rotary Club of Villa Park have provided so much over the years for the needy seniors and children that we at the HSP serve. If you, or a group you belong to, would be interested in supporting HSP, you can learn more following this link: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/index.html. Also, if you would like a speaker to address your group about HSP, or are one of our supporters who would like to host a meeting here, please call us at 630-221-8340.

Welcome Brownie Troop #54

Humanitarian Service Project had some very special visitors this afternoon, Brownie Troop #54 of Wheaton. These gung-ho, young volunteers came in with three very well decorated “Party-in-a-Box” donations for the needy kids in our Children’s Birthday Project. These enthusiastic, little supporters got a chance to learn more about our operation through a tour of our facility. We think it is really cool to see young people interested in helping others, so we want to thank Brownie Troop #54 for their support.

Through donations, like this one from these great Brownies, HSP reaches out to needy children in the area to help make their birthdays special. The kids receive new toys, books, and all the makings of a fun birthday party. There are a number of ways to get involved like these girls did. You can learn more about the project on our website here:

http://humanitarianservice.org/whatwedo/bdayproject.html.

Great Feedback on Great Food!

Just yesterday, we at the Humanitarian Service Project wrote about how thankful we were to all of the volunteers that made the Delivery Day to our seniors this past Saturday, and all of our previous Delivery Days, a success. We wanted to take this opportunity now to show that the seniors we serve are also very appreciative to the volunteers and donors who make the deliveries for the seniors in our Senior Citizen Project a possibility. Just last week, we received a thank you note from a senior explaining how big of an impact the deliveries made for her. We want to again, just thank all of the donors and volunteers that help us at HSP make this impact in the lives of the needy people we serve.

The grateful senior wrote to thank everyone at HSP for being so kind, and especially for the produce she receives as part of her deliveries. She says the produce has “improved [her] diet 100%.” The seniors in our program do not have the income necessary to afford a healthy and diverse diet, but thanks to your support, we at HSP are able to help them get the nourishment they need. If you are interested in either becoming a donor or volunteer to help us make our Senior Citizen Project a continued success, you can learn more at this link: http://humanitarianservice.org/whatwedo/index.html.

Riding in Style

Very dedicated readers of this blog may remember a post roughly two weeks ago in which we thanked LexisNexis in Oak Brook for the donation of 10 shiny new bicycles for the needy kids we at the Humanitarian Service Project serve. We are very happy to say that, thanks to that wonderful donation, several kids were riding instead of walking out of our office in Carol Stream last week. Four of the ten bikes donated by LexisNexis were given out to kids from needy families. We again want to thank LexisNexis for helping us make an impact in the lives of these families.

The children and senior citizens that we serve at the HSP come from insecure financial situations. Poverty places a burden on those it affects, and we at the HSP try our best to alleviate the burden. Don’t get us wrong, we at HSP are devoted to meeting the basic needs of those we serve, but we also see the beauty in providing someone in need with items that may make their life a little easier or more fun. If you have such an item you would like to donate, please call us at 630-221-8340 to see if we could use the item to enrich the life of someone needy.

Thanks for a Great Delivery Day!

Humanitarian Service Project would like to thank every one involved in making our Senior Citizen Project Delivery Day a success this past Saturday. Every month the needy seniors in our program receive over 90 pounds of groceries including fresh produce, frozen meats, non-perishables, paper products and personal care items. For us to be able to provide all of that for all 120 seniors in the program, we at HSP rely quite a bit on many wonderful volunteers to make it possible. We would like to thank all of those who helped out in any of the myriad of areas we require volunteer assistance, be it as a driver, a loader, a food sorter, or a secret pal donor or volunteer. Without your help, we would not be able to reach out to all the needy seniors we serve, who desperately need support.

As many of us at HSP are learning new Delivery Day responsibilities, we are very grateful to our many long time volunteers, who have been invaluable in helping us continue to have successful and fun Delivery Days. We are also always thrilled to see new faces devoted to helping us reach out to those in need. If you are interested in helping out with our Senior Citizen Project Delivery Days, you can learn more about the project here: http://humanitarianservice.org/whatwedo/monthlydelivery.html.

Hermes Elementary Says Thanks!

They say the world is quickly becoming paperless, with email and other things (like this blog for example) paperless-ly bringing you information you might have gotten via paper ten years ago. However, people who work in an office (like us here at the HSP office) know that there is still plenty of room for paper, and some of the most important documents still come primarily in paper form. In fact we just got some very interesting papers delivered to us here at the Humanitarian Service Project that we thought we should share with you. The papers are thank you cards from 26 grateful students from Hermes Elementary School in Aurora. These young paper savvy students sure know their way around markers and crayons, having hand written some very colorful thank you letters.

These students from Hermes sent these letters thanking us for sending them some of the school supplies from our School Supply Drive. Over the summer, Humanitarian Service Project was able to get school supplies to hundreds of students who needed them directly through their families, and managed to reach many more needy students by sending more supplies directly to schools, like Hermes Elementary. Since HSP could not have done any of this without all of the wonderful school supply donations we received from our supporters, we figured these thank you letters were as much yours as they are ours.

One of the students writes, “I am a student at Hermes Elementary School. Thank you for donating all those school supplies that we needed. I really appreciate it. We are doing something called bucket fillers. Each of us have an invisible bucket, and you just filled my bucket.” We want to thank all of the generous supporters that helped HSP “fill the buckets” of so many students in need this year. With your help, we succeeded in equipping those students who needed our help this school year.

Thank you, St. Athanasios Church!

Humanitarian Service Project would like to extend our deepest gratitude to St Athanasios Greek Orthodox Church in Aurora for donating a large amount of non-perishable food through a food drive. The drive was picked up at the church, and delivered to our center in Carol Stream yesterday. The generous amount donated from the church was even more than they had estimated, totaling a whopping 387 pounds! The food donated will go to help the needy seniors in our Senior Citizen Project. Every month, the needy seniors in the program receive over 90 pounds of groceries of every major food group to help alleviate the financial burden they are under. We want to thank everyone at St. Athanasios for their generous assistance in helping HSP provide for our seniors.

The generous people at St. Athanasios Greek Orthodox church have been helping HSP reach out to those affected by hunger in the area for over eight years. Without support like theirs, HSP would not be able to make an impact in the lives of the needy people we support. As the holiday season begins to approach, HSP begins looking for more and more food drives like this one from St. Athanasios, because we look to provide food to not only the seniors in our project, but also to needy families around the holidays. If you have any interest in running a food drive to help HSP reach these needy people, you can learn more at our website: http://humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/fooddrive.html, or call us at 630-221-8340.

Speaking Up

At the Humanitarian Service Project we like to make sure those who put time and effort into helping us, get thanked properly. Another thing we also like to do (on the rare occasions that time permits) is unwind. So when we have an opportunity to do both at the same time, it really is a fun time for us. We were able to do just that last night, as we hosted several members of our fantastic speaker team for our Community Outreach/Speaker Appreciation Dinner. Several members of the team; Christine Potthoff, Julie Michael, Anne Henriksen, Jan Yong, Marilyn Sweeny, and Beth D’Anna were able to attend, and joined us to celebrate the wonderful fruit that their work has produced for the HSP. We want to thank all members of our speaker team, both those who attended the dinner and those who could not, for utilizing their talents to help HSP serve needy children and seniors in the area.

Our speaker team represents HSP in front of large groups, helping spread the word about us in the community. The speakers on the team really are excellent advocates, because their support has generated not only lots of sponsorships for both children and senior citizens in our projects but also; food drives, toy drives, school supplies, new volunteers, new wrappers, many “Party in a box” boxes, and donations to our general fund. We had a great time with our speakers last night, and we want them all to know just how big of a difference they make. If you want to know more about being a speaker for HSP, you can check out our website: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/speakers.html.

UPS lends a hand (or 24)

Humanitarian Service Project would like to thank a group of 12 volunteers from everybody’s favorite brown-clad delivery people, UPS, for volunteering in our warehouse yesterday. The volunteers came from the Carol Stream UPS center, the UPS in Bensenville, and from the UPS in Elk Grove Village. For more than two hours, the twelve volunteers helped us unload and organize the food we received from the food drive from Congregation Etz Chaim this weekend. We want to thank all twelve of the volunteers for the fantastic help they provided for us.

The food donated from Etz Chaim and organized by the volunteers from UPS, will go to help the needy seniors in our Senior Citizen Project. Every month the seniors in our program get over 90 lbs of groceries in order to make sure their basic needs are met. It is thanks to volunteers, like these great helpers from UPS, that HSP is able to reach these needy seniors. Again, we want to thank the volunteers from UPS and all of the other great volunteers that make all that HSP does possible. If you are interested in volunteering with our Senior Citizen Project, you can learn more about the project and volunteer opportunities at our website here: http://humanitarianservice.org/whatwedo/seniorproject.html.

HSP welcomes Service Learning Interns from College of DuPage

The Humanitarian Service Project is excited to welcome several students from nearby College of DuPage who will be helping out around the HSP office as part of the school’s Service Learning Program. As Service Learning Interns, the students will be helping HSP in a number of ways; primarily assisting us get a leg up on the fast approaching Christmas season (which can get a little hectic here at HSP.) We are glad to see so many students eager to make a positive impact in the community. In fact, some of them are so eager, like Rebecca who came in Friday and Jill who is in today, that they responded to calls last week asking if they wanted to come in earlier than they previously expected to. There will be a few more Service Learning students starting their hours in the next few days. We are happy to have you all here!

College of DuPage says the goal of their Service Learning Program is to “offer students a chance to master coursework content, while making a real difference in their community.” Students in the program accomplish this by volunteering for one of the program’s “Community Partners,” like the HSP. If you, like the Service Learning Interns from College of DuPage, want to make a positive impact in the community by volunteering at the HSP, you can learn more about our volunteer opportunities from our website here: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/volunteers.html.

Another Fantastic Food Drive!

Humanitarian Service Project would like to extend a huge thank you to Congregation Etz Chaim in Lombard, for donating a large amount of food through a food drive on Saturday. We received two vans full of non-perishable food (an estimated three hundred grocery bags) for the needy seniors in our Senior Citizen Project. Etz Chaim conducted the food drive for Yom Kippur. Etz Chaim has been assisting HSP in our mission to reach out to needy senior citizens in the area, through food drives like this one, for more than seven years. We want to thank the congregation for their fantastic support in helping us make a difference in the lives of senior citizens who must look to the kindness of those who support HSP, like Etz Chaim, for food every month. You can learn more about Etz Chaim here: http://www.congetzchaim.org/index.aspx.

Humanitarian Service Project provides over 90 pounds of groceries for the 120 needy senior citizens in our Senior Citizen Project, to help them meet their basic needs, every month. Through the deliveries, the seniors receive fresh produce, several kinds of meat, fresh bread, and bags full of non-perishables, as well as, paper products, and personal care items. Humanitarian Service Project could not provide all of these things to our seniors who desperately need them without the wonderful support of our donors, like Etz Chaim, and our volunteers. If you are interested in assisting with the project, follow this link to the Senior Citizen Project section of our website: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/whatwedo/seniorproject.html.

HSP Welcomes a New Intern!

Humanitarian Service Project is very excited to welcome our new marketing intern, Vanessa. Vanessa is studying finance at Lewis University, and is considering a major in marketing. She will be testing the waters of marketing here, where she hopes her experience will let her know more about the field. Vanessa says she was drawn to HSP because she was interested in gaining new experiences. She says she was inspired to explore the non-profit world because of her mother, who is always helping people.

Vanessa’s biggest hobby is dancing. She loves to salsa, but says she really enjoys all different types of dancing. We’re sure Vanessa’s skills on the dance floor will transfer well to working here at HSP, which also requires a certain amount of grace. We at HSP are thrilled to have Vanessa here! We still have room for more interns, who are looking for experiencing what the non-profit world has to offer. For more information you can call us at 630-221-8340.

Thank You Gregory Middle School!

Humanitarian Service Project would like to extend our deepest thanks to the student council of Gregory Middle School in Naperville for donating 100 toys to our Children’s Birthday Project. The students brought in the toys as part of an “It’s not your birthday” party. The party was just like any other birthday party; the kids played games, and ate cake. However, since it was an “It’s not your birthday” party, all of the gifts brought were donated to us to get out to needy children. Laurie Zalanik, the student council advisor, said “we like doing projects for the HSP since the students can have fun socializing and do great things for the needy.” We at HSP love doing projects with Gregory Middle School too, and want to give them our deepest thanks. It’s great to see young people engaged in reaching out to those in need.

The toys donated will go straight to the needy kids in our Children’s Birthday Project. As part of the program, the children in the Children’s Birthday Project get a 25 pound box full of toys and other goodies on their birthday, as well as, gifts at Christmas. This generous donation comes in at a great time, as we are just starting to get ready for Christmas. If you would be interested in conducting a toy drive, like the great kids in the student council of Gregory Middle School, you can learn more at our website: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/toydrive.html.

Volunteer Spotlight: Sue

Ladies and gentlemen, it is your lucky day, because today we have a second serving of our Volunteer Spotlight. Today we wanted to recognize a wonderful volunteer, Sue Keenan, who has been helping out at HSP for over a decade now. Sue began helping out here around the office about ten years ago, and after starting her own business, she began helping us in a different way, by picking up gifts for our Children’s Birthday Project and wrapping them for us. For years Sue has been providing expertly wrapped gifts for the children in our project. We at HSP would like to thank Sue for all the heartfelt work she does for us.

Sue is a woman of many talents. She is the founder of the Village Theater Guild in Glen Ellyn, which is going on its 50^th year. Through the guild she directs and acts. Professionally, Sue is a personal concierge. You can learn more about her business at http://www.run-around-sue.com/.

Sue enjoys volunteering as a wrapper because it is a volunteer opportunity she can do in the comfort of her home. Sue claims she was drawn to HSP because she “likes helping people, and has a soft spot in her heart for children.” Sue has turned this soft spot into a labor of love lasting over 10 years. If you would be interested in donating your time to pick up and wrap some gifts for us, like Sue, you can learn more under the “Wrap Gifts for Children” heading here: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/volunteers.html, or call us at 630-221-8340.

Volunteer Spotlight: Drivers

At Humanitarian Service Project we have been blessed with many wonderful volunteers who put their time and energy into helping everything run smoothly around here. For this week’s volunteer spotlight (or should I say headlight) we at HSP wanted to recognize a specific type of volunteer around here, our volunteer drivers. At HSP we have a people volunteering to drive to help us in a number of different ways. First there are the many drivers who come to our center and pick up groceries to deliver to our needy seniors every month for delivery day. There are a number of other drivers who come and help us by driving in other days, by doing such tasks as taking our vans out to food banks to pick up food for our seniors. We wanted to extend our deepest thanks to all of our drivers who really keep things moving around here. May all of your lights be green and all of engines run smooth.

There are many people who donated their time and energy to help HSP in our mission to alleviate the pain poverty brings to the needy in DuPage and Kane County. We want to thank, not only our great drivers, but also everyone else who makes everything HSP does possible. If you are interested in a volunteer opportunity, you can learn more at this link: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/index.html.

Riding the Road of Generosity

Humanitarian Service Project would like to issue a huge thank you to the Oakbrook division of the international company LexisNexis for the donation of 10 brand new bikes for the children in our Children’s Birthday Project. The bikes, which were dropped off at our center in Carol Stream by Bart, Raffi, and Scott from LexisNexis, were brought in fully assembled and complete with helmets for the children. The bikes were purchased, assembled, and delivered by LexisNexis as part of one of their “RE cares days” (the RE comes from Reed Elsevier, the owner of LexisNexis.) Again, we want to extend our thanks to LexisNexis.

The bikes will get out to needy children through our Children’s Birthday Project. Through the project, the children are granted toys, books, and party supplies on their birthday, as well as gifts at Christmastime. We are always looking for more great donations from our generous donors like LexisNexis, especially for older children’s gifts (ages 8-11.) If you are interested in the Children’s Birthday Project you can learn more by looking at our website: http://humanitarianservice.org/whatwedo/bdayproject.html.

Happy Birthday Karole!

If our Children’s Birthday Project didn't clue you in, we here at Humanitarian Service Project are fans of birthday parties. That’s why yesterday we were happy to celebrate a very special Birthday here at HSP, that of our Co-Founder and Executive Director Karole. Karole began the Humanitarian Service Project out of her spare bedroom in 1979, and has been expanding the project ever since. We hope all of our supporters will join us in wishing Karole a happy (albeit, by now, somewhat belated) birthday.

Our party yesterday included not only HSP staff, but also interns and volunteers and as well. Karole commented how nice it was to have to have volunteers at the birthday party, because they do so much great work to help out around HSP, and deserved to be around for our celebrations. Again we want to say happy birthday to Karole, but we also want to wish all of supporters who have helped Karole run the project over the years a deep thank you, and a happy birthday (whenever they may be.)

Keeping us Cut Clean

Those of you who have seen the film Forrest Gump may recall a scene in which Forrest makes a great deal of money by investing in Apple Computers. When his friend Lt. Dan tells him he won’t have to worry about money anymore, Forrest says “well that’s nice! You know, one less thing.” Considering we’re in the non-profit world, Humanitarian Service Project won’t ever be at the point where we won’t have to consider money anymore, but thanks to the generosity of one of our supporters we do have “one less thing” to worry about around here, our lawn. For this reason we at HSP would like to thank Chuck Strayve of Chuck Strayve Landscaping for his continued donation of his time and talent, to keep our lawn looking beautiful. Chuck’s crew was out here just this morning, and the lawn looks great!

Chuck has been donating his services to HSP for roughly a decade and we are thrilled to have his services. If our lawn could talk, we’re sure it would tell you the same thing. Chuck owns his own landscaping company out of West Chicago, which serves Chicagoland. You can check out the company’s website at http://www.chuckstrayvelandscaping.com. We would again like to thank Chuck for his continued support, as well as, all of the other volunteers and donors that use their talents to help HSP in many diverse and wonderful ways!

The Drive to Provide

Humanitarian Service Project is excited to announce that a very large food drive has come in sponsored by the Rotary Club of Carol Stream. The food drive was a community-wide drive, in which hundreds of people participated. The drive was conducted this Saturday, and it benefitted two other local charities (Interfaith Food Pantry and Feeding Northwest Dupage) as well as HSP. Luanne Triolo Newman of the Rotary Club, who was responsible for organizing the event, said everything collected fully covered 12 “double cafeteria tables both on top and underneath.” We at HSP unloaded the two vans crammed full of non-perishable food items, paper products, and some personal care items earlier this morning, and we were delighted with how much the food drive provided to us. Our rough estimate is that HSP received somewhere between 3500-4000 pounds of items through the drive.

All of the items received through the drive will be used by HSP to provide for the needy seniors in our Senior Citizen Program. Every month, the seniors in our program receive 90 pounds of groceries through our program. On top of non-perishables, paper products and personal care items provided through this drive, they also receive fresh fruits and vegetables, several kinds of meats, and bread. We would like to thank everyone involved in the food drive, and all the other supporters of our Senior Citizen project. Without all of your generous help, we at HSP would not be able to reach out to those who are in need. If you want to learn more about our Senior Citizen Project, you can do so by following this link: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/whatwedo/seniorproject.html.