ENDING 2012 WITH A BANG

Today is the last day of the year for us at Humanitarian Service project and we would like to thank everyone that has supported us through this year to help make it as successful as possible.  It has been an amazing year and we have been able to help many needy families in the community but we would not have been able to do as much as we did without the help and support of everyone.  We just finished the Christmas offering and we were able to serve over 1,600 children! We were able to fulfill the needs of every family that called us requesting Christmas Gifts.

              This season was truly amazing and it was a great joy for all of us to be able to help so many people in need.  It was awesome to see so many people come together during this season to show the true meaning of Christmas. It has also been a great year for our year round projects: the Senior Citizen Project and The Children’s Birthday Project. We want to thank all of those who gave their time and resources this year to enable HSP to continue to reach out to these needy members of the community. We are always in the need of senior and child sponsors to help us be able to continue these projects.

             We support 121 needy seniors every month with over 100 lbs of fresh groceries. We also support about 900 children every year with all the essentials to be able to have a birthday party including 6-12 new toys, 6-8 books, and a party in a box kit that includes cake mix, streamers, candles, party favors, etc. to provide them with a memorable birthday. 

            Other highlights of the year were our annual Feed the Kids Program that provided 100 needy families with 175 lbs. of grocery packages in the months of June, July, and August and our Back to School Drive that provided over 2,000 needy children to be able to go back to school with the necessary school supplies they need to succeed.  All these programs have been a huge success this year thanks to all the amazing volunteers and donors and we are looking forward to reaching even more people in need next year.

            We would like to wish everyone a safe and blessed holiday and hope the next year comes with joy for everyone.  Just a reminder that we will be closed on Monday December 31 and Tuesday January 1 and we will reopen on Wednesday January 2 at 9:00.

A Party for One and Christmas for All

Nick Brown and Family Bringing in Donated Toys

           We can all remember having birthday parties where your friends played games, ate cake, and gave gifts to celebrate. For a local 12 year old, his party was much of the same except the gifts brought to the party were not for him.  Nick Brown, who turned 12 on 12/12/12, decided he would use his birthday to help needy kids his age in his community have a better Christmas.  Nick did this by using the gifts brought to his party as a toy drive. Nick must be popular because, he received and donated 34 new toys from his party.  When asked about his toy drive Nick replied, “It makes me feel good that other kids that wouldn’t have anything can have something at Christmas.”  The gifts arrived here at HSP on December 18^th and were used to help some of the more than 1600 children we gave gifts to this Christmas Offering. 

            We commend the maturity and awareness of Nick Brown being so young and thinking of others around him.  Furthermore, we thank Nick and his family for the donation that made Christmas possible for more children, and for the inspiration that can be taken from this creative way to give to the needy people in the community.

AURORA FIRE DEPARTMENT DONATES TOYS TO NEEDY CHILDREN

          Today, Humanitarian Service Project received a cargo van full of toys from Fox Valley Park District police department’s annual Toys for Tots drive to provide holiday gifts for less fortunate children in the area.  These gifts are dropped off at the Aurora Fire Department where they are wrapped and distributed to many needy families in the community. After all the toys were distributed, HSP received the remaining toys and stuffed animals. This is the second year that we have received toy drive donations from the Aurora Fire Department and these toys are still a great need for us after the holiday season as we need many toys for The Children’s Birthday Project. HSP’s Children’s Birthday Project is a program that helps 900 needy children in DuPage and Kane counties celebrate their birthdays.

          We would like to thank the Aurora Fire Department as well as the surrounding community for these donated toys. We would also like to thank Tom Hogan and Bernie Bartelli for picking up these toys for us.

          Through the Children’s Birthday Project, each child in the program receives a 20-25 lb Birthday Box containing  6-12 new toys, 6-8 new books, school supplies, and  a “party in a box kit” that includes everything for them to celebrate their birthdays. Each Party-In-A-Box contains cake mix, frosting, streamers, balloons, candles, utensils, and party favors.  The Birthday Box is a wonderful celebration of the child’s special day and helps to take the burden off of the parents of these needy children that lack the resources to otherwise give their children a Happy Birthday.

            If you are interested in donating to the Children’s Birthday Project visit our website at Humanitarianservice.org or call us at (630) 221-8340

FINAL CHRISTMAS OFFERING DAY

Today is the final distribution day of our 34^th annual Christmas Offering, and we are so grateful for all the help that we have received to make this Christmas successful.  This year thanks to all the amazing donors and volunteers, we have been able to serve over 1600 needy children with gifts, in total, which included all of the needy children on our waiting list (almost 500 children!) The families that we have helped have told us that without the help of the Christmas Offering they would not have anything to give their children this year.  We thank everyone that has been involved in this process for helping us make a difference to those in need. We have had hundreds of volunteers and donors help to make this Christmas a memorable one for these needy children.  Without these donations to the Christmas Offering, these children’s families did not have the means to be able to provide them with gifts for Christmas this year.  HSP would like to thank everyone for being so giving this year. 

            HSP would also like to remind everyone that we are closed for the holidays on December 24 through December 25 and will reopen on December 26.  We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday.

Community Steps into Santa’s Boots

    Christmas is right around the corner, as today we entered the fourth distribution day of the Christmas Offering. Today alone, we are providing gifts for over 130 of the needy families who called in to be on our Christmas Waiting List. At the beginning of the season, because we already committed to 1200 needy children, we at HSP were not sure if we would be able to serve these extra, “waiting list families.” Thanks to the generosity of donors, we will be providing wonderful, new toys to the children of these families. We wish to thank everyone who contributed to our Christmas Offering by donating Giving Tree gifts or organizing/ participating in a toy drive. It is thanks to all of you that the approximately 490 children on our waiting list, in addition to the 1200 needy children we already served, will be receiving these greatly desired new toys this Christmas.

     Christmas is indeed the season of giving, and so many friends of HSP have given so much to make Christmas joyful to the needy families we serve.  Many families have called to express thanks for the generosity our donors have bestowed upon them, saying these gifts will mean so much to their children. We at HSP wish to thank everyone who has enabled our Christmas Offering to reach these needy families this year. 

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT IS IN FULL SWING AT HSP

Things are quite busy here at HSP as we are in the process of our 3^rd distribution day for the needy children and families served by the program. We are still taking phone calls for families to be put on the waiting list and will be trying to fulfill as many families as possible all the way through Friday. 

On Saturday December 15, we gave 150 needy families (with around 500 children) gifts as well as 250 lbs. of groceries total which include 15 varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables, 7 frozen meats, 7 loaves of Pepperidge Farm bread, a turkey, and five boxes of non-perishables weighing 25 pounds each. On Tuesday, 151 needy families, from Lake Park Elementary, visited our center to pick up Christmas gifts for their children; we served an additional 60 needy families by delivering directly to Lake Park as well (about 280 children in all.) Today 202 needy families (with around 350 children) in total will visit our center to pick up Christmas gifts for their children.  150 of these families will take home with them a holiday meal. Over the next couple of days we will also distribute to close to 200 needy families (with, at least, 450 children) on our Christmas waiting list, bringing the total number of families to 750, with 1, 633 needy children served! We have had many volunteers who have been so amazing in helping us serve these families and we would like to thank them.  Without these volunteer’s efforts and the donations from so many people, HSP would not be able to serve all the needy families that we do.  These volunteers were eager to jump in and help no matter what the task was at hand.

            We would like to take the time to thank the groups of Sears Holding that came and brought 15 people to help us pass out these gifts, as well as the Young Men’s Service League and all the other volunteers that helped in the smooth running and success that today has brought. Both these groups as well as the other volunteers came ready to help us with all of our needs.  Thank you to all for braving the elements to help make a difference in the lives of these needy families.  Thanks to them, these needy children will have a cheerful and exciting Christmas.

            Today is the third of our five major distribution days for Christmas Offering 2012; thanks to the support of our generous donors, the final two will be tomorrow and Friday when we will be distributing to the waiting list families that we were able to help.  We would like to thank everyone who has been with us throughout this process as volunteers and donors to make this year a success.  We hope to see everyone next year as we continue to serve the needy children and families of the project.  HSP hopes that everyone enjoys their holiday.

Another Successful Distribution to the Needy!

Our Christmas Offering is in full swing here at HSP, as today is our second distribution day for the needy children served and families served by the program. Today 151 needy families, from Lake Park Elementary, will be visiting our center to pick up Christmas gifts for their children. We have had numerous volunteers who have graciously lent their time and energy today, in order to serve these families, and we would like to take this opportunity to recognize them.

            First off we would like to recognize a group of eight volunteers from DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church in Naperville, who assisted with the first shift of the distribution this morning. When the distribution began at 9:30 this morning, we had over a dozen cars lined up, but these volunteers took to the task with enthusiasm, allowing us to serve this needy families with their gifts in a quick organized fashion.

Taking the reins from the Dupage Unitarian Universalist Church this afternoon were two enthusiastic groups from Clarke Environmental in Roselle, and Insight, Inc. in Bloomingdale. Members of both of these groups assisted with our distribution and lent their hands in getting organized to distribute gifts to needy families on our Christmas waiting list, who will be picking up later this week. We were also blessed to host ten volunteers from Starbucks in Carol Stream, who also helped organize gifts for the waiting list families, as well as, sort food for the needy seniors in our Senior Citizen Project.

Rounding out our many phenomenal volunteers today, were groups from the Carol Stream “Panther” chapter of the Young Men’s Service League and Downers Grove South Key Club. These groups of students helped us end our distribution on a strong note, taking the last shift from 4 to 7 this evening.

We want to thank all of these groups for generously giving their time and energy to make our distribution today a success. We would also like to recognize the many friends of the project who also joined us today to make sure everything ran smoothly. We would like to thank Dale Coon, Larry and Evelyn Erven, Rich Patera, Brian May, Nancy Bagdonas, and Karen Cummings for braving the cold weather to help us serve these families in need!

A Very Merry (and wet) Christmas Distribution Day for Needy Families!

            This past Saturday 150 needy families came to HSP to pick-up their Christmas Gifts and Groceries. Each family received five 25 lb boxes filled with delicious non-perishables, two 25 lb boxes filled with fresh and colorful produce, a selection of 8 frozen meats and a turkey! In addition to this, each child in the family between the ages of 3 and 15 received at least 3 brightly wrapped Christmas gifts.

            This wonderful service could not have been accomplished without the help of our wonderful volunteers this past Saturday. With both a morning and afternoon shift, HSP was happy to receive a lending hand from over 60 volunteers!  With all of the rain, the diligence and hard work of our volunteers was fantastic! Thank you to all of the volunteers for making Saturday possible and for coming out in the less than ideal weather!

            In addition to our volunteers, we cannot say thank you enough to our donors! All of the individuals, companies, churches, clubs and organizations that have donated toys, food, or money to our Christmas Offering are greatly appreciated. Without the donations from our steadfast supporters we would be unable to support the 494 children that were served on Saturday and the remaining 700+ children that are scheduled to pick-up their Christmas gifts later this week.

Thank you once again to everyone that has been helping to make this year’s Christmas Offering a success. If you, or anyone you know is interested in getting involved there are still plenty of opportunities to volunteer onsite with us. Also, any additional donations of non-perishables or new toys would be greatly appreciated! 

One Day Until Distribution: All Systems Go!

Tomorrow is the day for the first Distribution Day to the needy families in our Christmas Offering. One hundred and fifty needy families will be visiting our Center tomorrow to receive gifts for their children and 250 lbs of groceries total which include 15 varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables, 7 frozen meats, 7 loaves of Pepperidge Farm bread, a turkey with a holiday meal, and five boxes of non-perishables weighing 25 pounds each. With such an important event happening tomorrow, we have been blessed to have so many wonderful volunteers donating their time and energy these past few days to help us put the finishing touches on organizing the event.

Roselle Lions

            Yesterday we hosted seven volunteers from the Roselle Lion’s Club, who helped us get ready to serve the more than 1200 needy children who will be receiving gifts through our Christmas Offering. These volunteers pulled together and wrapped presents for two hundred of the additional needy children on our Christmas waiting list. HSP is able to serve these additional needy children, thanks to the outpouring of support from our Giving Tree donors this year.

United Stationers

In addition to the Roselle Lions, nine volunteers from United Stationers in Carol Stream also visited HSP yesterday. These volunteers helped out with a myriad of tasks including wrapping gifts, and setting up our warehouse with all the boxes and gifts that will be distributed to the needy families tomorrow.

Picking up where the United Stationers group left off, today, we had the pleasure of hosting seven volunteers from UPS Supply Chain Solutions, who sorted produce into some of the boxes set up by United Stationers. These UPS volunteers are produce sorting veterans, as they join us on a regular basis to sort produce for our monthly deliveries to the needy Senior Citizen Project. The Roselle Lions Club, United Stationers, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, have all been longtime supporters of the project, and we want to thank these groups for coming to help us get everything squared away for our distribution day!

UPS

            These hard working volunteer groups are only a sample of the hundreds of supporters who have given of time and resources to make our Christmas Offering possible this year. On top of the 150 needy families that will be picking up gifts and groceries tomorrow, more than 400 other needy families will be served with gifts next week. We wish to extend our sincerest thanks to everyone who, once again, has enabled HSP to serve the needy of our community with gifts, groceries, and lots of Christmas cheer!

The Needy Senior Gift Delivery Day!

Nancy Bagadonas, one of our volunteer drivers.

It’s an exciting day here at The Humanitarian Service Project, as today is the Christmas Gift Delivery Day for the 121 needy seniors enrolled in our Senior Citizen Project. Throughout the day, gifts have been rolling out the door, with the destination being the homes of the needy seniors thanks to the 27 volunteer drivers, who have thoughtfully given their time and energy to deliver these gifts.

            We would also like to recognize all the donors who went above and beyond this year in provided so many heartfelt gifts for our seniors. We specifically want to recognize Divine Savior Parish in Downers Grove, who provided a gift for each of the 121 needy seniors served by the project. Acknowledgement is also certainly in order, for Ginna Ericksen, our volunteer Secret Pal Coordinator, whose help organizing the gifts for all the seniors , has been instrumental in making this a great success. Other volunteers we’d like to specifically recognize today are friends of the project Jesse Bower and Dean Senne, who have helped load up our volunteer drivers today.

Ginna Ericksen, our volunteer Secret Pal Coordinator, helped organize all of the donated gifts.

            The seniors are all very thankful for the gifts. We have already received calls from a number of seniors who wished to thank all who took part in bringing items of love into their homes.  All of us here at HSP wish to echo the seniors’ gratitude, and thank everyone who helped us share gifts and the Christmas spirit with these needy senior citizens.

A FAREWELL TO 2 AMAZING INTERNS

Margaret and Kelly

          Today, we at Humanitarian Service Project are experiencing a mix of emotions as 2 of our interns, Margaret and Kelly, will be leaving us.  We are happy to see them go onto new things but are sad to lose them, as they were greatly helpful to HSP.  Margaret was a general intern, who loves to write, who came to us from Elmhurst College in August.  She helped us with numerous projects, supported the staff whenever needed and contributed by helping both The Children’s Birthday Project as well as The Senior Citizen Project run smoothly.  Margaret also assisted in writing numerous blogs, press releases, and helped us to stay connected to the community as well as our volunteers.  Kelly also came to us from Elmhurst College and was an accounting intern.  She started back in September and assisted the CFO Floyd Kettering will daily accounting procedures, prepared all of the accounting records for our annual audit by Wagner Sim & Co., CPAs.  She also developed an accounting procedure manual for future interns.

            They will be deeply missed here at HSP.  Both Margaret and Kelly are graduating from Elmhurst College at the end of this school year and we wish them the best of luck as they reach this new stage in their lives.

It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

Donation made By Accurate

                         Yesterday at HSP, we had magnificent donations and excellent volunteers that helped in furthering our ability to help the needy families and seniors in DuPage and Kane Counties. HSP wants to highlight and thank a few of our generous donors and volunteers.  Accurate Personnel in Carol Stream donated over $5000 of new toys yesterday through a location wide toy drive. The new toys donated included, new bikes, dolls, remote controlled cars, trucks, and helicopters; also, there were new Nerf toys, fashion design kits, costumes, and Marvel superhero toys.  Mike Savarese organized the toy drive put on by Accurate.   Accurate has been supporting our Christmas Offering since 2008 and we want to thank them for their continuous support.

Dharma Study Group- Theosophical Society 

                         Yesterday we had the pleasure of hosting seven volunteers from the Dharma Study Group- Theosophical Society that helped in sorting and bagging gifts for Christmas. They organized the gifts for the families and made account that each child’s gift was present.  Also yesterday, Girl Scout Troop 15 from Monroe Middle School in Wheaton came to help sort food.  The seventh graders, who have volunteered four times at HSP, said they enjoyed being able to use their organizational skills to sort and alphabetize different items.  They commented that they felt like they made things easier to find and put things in the right place. The Christmas Offering will be a blessing for many families and seniors in DuPage and Kane counties; moreover, the volunteers we have had the honor to host help us serve the community with more fluidity.

Girl Scout Troop 15 From Monroe Middle School in Wheaton

                         We give thanks to the groups that came in yesterday to assist us in our projects; whether it be through wonderful donations of new toys, or through the much appreciated volunteering to ensure each gift and food item reaches the families that need it most.  We are thankful for the joy and cheerful giving from all of our supporters.

THANK YOU TO BOXING PARTY VOLUNTEERS

           Wow, this weekend was busy for us at The Humanitarian Service Project and we would not have been able to make it through without all of the amazing volunteers that came to help us on Saturday.  Saturday was the December Senior Citizen Delivery Day along with the Annual Boxing Party for our Christmas Offering, in its 34^th year. For the Senior Citizen Delivery Day, we had our volunteer drivers and loaders help us to get all the food to the 121 needy seniors we serve. In the afternoon, we had over 55 volunteers joined us to bag and separate the toys for Christmas at the Boxing Party. At the event they sorted and organized the gifts for 374 of the 576 needy families who will be served by our Christmas Offering (that’s gifts for over 700 children!) These volunteers were so great that we even got everything separated faster then we had scheduled. Without the help of these volunteers, it would be a lot harder for us to reach the needy community.  HSP would like to thank all our amazing volunteers for their dedication and hard work.

Before Boxing Party

            HSP is currently committed to serving, at least, 1200 needy children through our Christmas Offering, and has 321 needy children on our waiting list. This being the case, every gift that we receive goes miles in giving a child in need a Merry Christmas. The Christmas Offering also provides, at least, three weeks of groceries to 150 of the needy families served by the Offering. These families will receive 15 varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables, 7 frozen meats, a turkey with a complete holiday meal, 4 loaves of Pepperidge Farm bread, and five boxes of non-perishables (weighing 25 pounds each.)  If you are interested in making a difference in the lives of the needy children that we serve, check out our website for more information:

After Boxing Party

www.humanitarianservice.org or call us at (630) 221-8340.

THANK YOU TO OUR AMAZING VOLUNTEERS

Association of Professional Chaplains

The Humanitarian Service Project’s busiest season is here and with that comes the need for more help and volunteers.  Today, it has been so amazing to have so many of our wonderful supporters here helping us.  With both the Senior Citizen Delivery Day and our annual Christmas Boxing Party being tomorrow HSP has been one busy place.  We would like to thank all of our volunteers for being so gracious and coming out to help us. 

Kindercare

First up we’d like to thank a group of seven volunteers from the Association of Professional Chaplains, who volunteered in two shifts, in order to spend the entire day with us, sorting Giving Tree gifts for needy children which were graciously donated by our many supporters. While the Association of Professional Chaplain volunteers were helping us prepare for our Christmas Boxing Party, we were lucky to have a group of volunteers from the local Kindercare district, in the warehouse sorting and boxing fresh produce to help us prepare for our Senior Citizen Project Delivery Day, which is also tomorrow. We also had the pleasure of hosting 8 volunteers from Hewlett Packard volunteering as part of the company’s annual “HP Local Giving Campaign,” a program in which HP employees, who don’t necessarily work together, get to know each other by volunteering their time giving back to the communities they live in. Last but not least, we also had the joy of having a group from the Rotary Club of Bloomingdale/Roselle, who helped out by sorting donated gifts, and winter clothes that will go to the 1200 needy children we serve at Christmas time.

HP

Rotary Club of Bloomingdale/ Roselle

We would also like to say thanks to the numerous friends we have at the project that have been here helping us out, as well. We wish to recognize Tish Jensen, Nate Schingen, Jeff Marker, Larry and Evelyn Erven, Pete Laabs, Tom Hogan and Ginna Ericksen (our Volunteer Secret Pal Project Coordinator) for giving their time, and helping to lead the volunteer groups we hosted today. It really is amazing to see all these wonderful people come together to make the needy have a great holiday season.  If anyone is interested in learning more about the projects we run or in donating to our efforts please visit www.humanitarianservice.org or call 630-221-8340. 

The Joy In Hosting Volunteers and Donors

Many helpful hands and cheerful spirits have come and help out at HSP this holiday season.  HSP is blessed and overjoyed to host so many quality volunteers to help us better serve the needy in the community. Yesterday, Naperville Neighbors and Newcomers Club helped sort potatoes and onions; as well as, set up boxes that help to help us prepare for this coming Saturday. They also, graciously brought in a few toys, and HSP will be a beneficiary of their charity luncheon later this month.  We also had the pleasure of hosting a group from Philips Healthcare, who contributed time sorting toys in the warehouse, and helped prepare out warehouse for the Christmas Boxing Party, also this upcoming Saturday. We want to thank these groups for the time they volunteered here at HSP.

 In addition to volunteers, HSP has also had the pleasure of hosting numerous donors, who have generously brought in donations to help us serve needy senior citizens and families this Christmas. Yesterday, Americo Chemical Dropped off giving trees going to 97 different children this Christmas. A group of students Giant Steps school in Lisle also came bearing gifts yesterday, with each student providing a toy donation for the Christmas offering. The supervisors of each Kindercare center in DuPage County came in and gave another donation yesterday; they dropped off a van full of greatly appreciated selections of new winter coats, mittens, hats, scarves, and clothes.  We want to thank these groups for their generous donations.

We have many donations and volunteers that help make the services we provide possible; and, this is only but a sample of the gracious individuals and organizations that have given their thought, time, and effort to the needy families and seniors in DuPage and Kane counties. HSP is thankful to all who have participated in giving hope to these families at HSP and we encourage our supporters to continue to partner with us to better serve needy seniors and families in our community.

Thank you, Chicago Shinnyo-en!

Humanitarian Service Project was included on Sunday at the Chicago Shinnyo-en Temple’s volunteer fair.  This was a free, community-wide service event where both temple members and people from the community came together to do fun, hands-on projects and learn about the opportunities to get involved in the community that are available. Families participating  at the event had the opportunity to do many fun service activities including; decorate lunch bags, placemats, and grocery bags, tie fleece blankets, make playdough, write cards to hospitalized children, and put together “Party in a Bag” kits for the needy children in our Children’s Birthday Project.  This event was coordinated by Rev. Fumio Ishizaka of the temple, Ineko Tsuchida of the Shinnyo-en Foundation, Nan Peterson, a Shinnyo-en Senior Fellow and Jenny Friedman, Executive Director of Doing Good Together, a non-profit organization based in Minneapolis who helped the temple organize the event. 

This was the temple’s first community event and they chose HSP alongside the DuPage Senior Citizen Council, the Kenneth Young Center, WINGS, and Send Kids the World to be supported through this event.  HSP received 30 “Party in a Bag” donations that were created during this event. Kristin Maxwell, Assistant Director, was present at the event to help educate the community about what HSP does. HSP would like to thank Chicago Shinnyo-en Temple, along with Doing Good Together, for coordinating this event.  With the help of groups like this, needy children are able to celebrate their birthdays.

The “Party in a Bag” kits will go to 30 of the children served by HSP’s Children’s Birthday Project. All 900 needy children in the project receive a party in a bag, containing all the necessary items for a birthday party, as part of their 20-25 birthday boxes. The kits enable the child’s parents to through the child a memorable party they otherwise couldn’t afford. The kits contain, cake mix, frosting, paper plates, cups, streamers, balloons, and party favors. If you, too would like to help us reach needy children by donating these kits, you can learn more on our website: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/donations.html