HSP is Accepting Food Donations All Year Long

Summer is a busy time for the Humanitarian Service Project. There are over 15 tons of food leaving our pantry in the months of June, July and August. We need to replenish our warehouse to ensure that needy seniors and children in the area can have healthy and nutritious meals.

The Senior Citizen Project serves 121 seniors living in the Dupage and Kane County area. Every month they receive fresh fruits and vegetables, non-perishables, bread, frozen meat along with paper products and personal care items. We deliver over six tons of food to the seniors each month, which means all of your donations are greatly appreciated!

Feed the Kids program provides meals to 375 children when they are out of school for summer break. They receive 175 pounds of groceries composed of 15 varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables, three 25-pound boxes of non-perishables, frozen meat and bread that are nutritious in order to keep them healthy. Altogether, we deliver nine tons of food to needy children in the Dupage and Kane County area.

Food donations are appreciated throughout the entire year. If you’re interested in helping, we’re looking for food items to provide to needy seniors and children in our Senior Citizen Project and Feed the Kids Program.

Here is a list composed of the items we’re looking to restock in our pantry: (In order of importance)

1. Canned Fruit

2. Canned Vegetables

3. Soup

4. Instant Potatoes

5. Tuna

6. Peanut Butter & Jelly

7. Pasta/Rice Meals (Hamburger Helper)

8. Pancake Mix

9. Oatmeal

10. Pasta Sauce

We would like to thank everyone in advance for supporting our projects. Every donation makes a big difference in the lives of the needy seniors and families that we serve. If you’re interested in making a donation, please call (630) 221-8340 or email hsp@humanitarianservice.org.

Pella Windows and Doors hosts a Paper Drive!

Bright and early this morning Pella Windows and Doors brought in a SUV full of paper products for our seniors. They are prolific supporters of the Senior Citizen Project (SCP) and have conducted drives bringing in food, toys, and school supplies in the past.

Pella Windows and Doors in West Chicago put together a paper drive for the Senior Citizen Project. These items were very much appreciated, as we are always in need for more paper products for the needy seniors we serve, particularly toilet paper.  

Through SCP we provide fresh, wholesome and nutritious food to 121 needy seniors in DuPage and Kane County’s need elderly. Food is purchased in bulk and delivered directly to the seniors’ homes each month. We also deliver paper products, cleaning products, personal hygiene products and wonderful gifts that are donated by volunteers. This ensures the seniors can live a clean and healthy life.

We thank Pella Windows and Doors for doing this drive for the sake of these needy seniors. Humanitarian Service Project is always looking for help from volunteers to donors. If you or your organization are interested in helping any way please contact us at (630)221-8340 or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org .

Girls Natural Pageant Collects School Supplies for HSP!

On Monday, the Humanitarian Service Project (HSP) was thankful to have two representatives, from Illinois Natural Pageants, come to our Center to drop off 3,084 pieces of school supplies for our School Supply Drive.

Tiffany and Elizabeth Jones (Pageant Director)

This past weekend Illinois Natural Pageants honored HSP’s project by collecting school supplies for the children we help with our School Supply Drive at their annual Strawberry Princess Pageant, in Mundelein. Illinois Natural Pageants has donated to HSP in past through a toy drive which helped our Children’s Birthday Project. Contestants in the Strawberry Princess Pageant asked family and friends for donations to help them gather the most school supplies. The individuals who collected the most in this pageant were Sophia B., in the baby division, who donated a total of 373 items, Desiree M., in the Princess Division, who donated a total of 305 items, and Desiree F., in the Queen Division, who donated a total of 151 items. Because of these wonderful ladies hard work they received a special crown and recognition.

Illinois Natural Pageants offers girls, age’s newborn to adult, a fun and competitive environment. Girls who enter the pageants are required to showcase just their natural beauty, no hair and makeup allowed.  Their philanthropy is “kids helping kids.” They like to encourage children to give back to other children by giving the contestants the opportunity to collect donations for their chosen charities. This weekend they chose to recognize HSP.

Again, HSP would like to thank Illinois Natural Pageants and all of their hardworking contestants for their tremendous efforts in this weekend’s Strawberry Princess Pageant. Your donations were greatly appreciated. HSP is always looking for more donations to help our different projects. If you or your organization would like to find out more about how you can help HSP please give us a call at (630)221-8340 or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org. 

In Loving Memory Karole L. (Hitchcock) Kettering: 10/3/43 - 6/21/13

Karole Kettering passed away on the Summer Solstice, June 21, 2013, after suffering a serious stroke on June 15. She was surrounded by her loving family and slipped the bonds of this life around 4:00 am. She is survived by her loving husband of 50 years, Floyd; and her children, Rebecca (and Paul) Yambrovich of Oak Park, IL and Bill (and Lan) Kettering of West Chicago, IL. She will be sorely missed by her loving grand children Morganne and Olyvea Yambrovich, Grace Nguyen, and Casey and Addoline Kettering, as well as myriad friends.

Karole had two passions in life - her family and Service to those in need. The passion for her family was readily apparent to anyone that knew Karole, and her passion for service was readily apparent through the results of the Humanitarian Service Project, which Karole founded and directed for 31 years, until the day she passed.

In 1979, inspired by the Theosophical Order of Service, Karole wanted to help others in our community who might not have the resources to give their children a great Christmas experience and thus began the annual Christmas Offering. Working with the DuPage County health nurses, Karole was able to rally friends, family, and acquaintances to create an abundant Christmas experience for 35 local families.

In 1982, with encouragement from the DuPage County nurses, Karole decided to extend her service efforts year-round and developed the Senior Citizen Project to aid local seniors living in impoverished conditions. This was the beginning of the Humanitarian Service Project as an official charity and the umbrella organization for the existing projects and what would eventually grow to include the Children’s Birthday Project, Feed the Kids, and a School Supply Project serving all of DuPage County and part of Kane County, Illinois.

There will be a memorial service celebrating Karole’s life to be held on Monday July 8, 7:00 PM, at the Theosophical Society in America, 1926 N. Main St., Wheaton, IL 60187 (630-668-1571). In lieu of flowers, donations to the Humanitarian Service Project Endowment Fund (465 Randy Road, Carol Stream, IL 60188; 630-221-8340) are greatly appreciated. (www.humanitarianservice.org)

Outreach Community Center: Working Together To Help Others!

     Today, a volunteer group from Outreach Community Center brightened up Humanitarian Service Project’s center with smiling faces. The energetic and lively group worked together to sort bread and create 100 meat packages for HSP’s Feed the Kids event. In addition, they built boxes that will hold non-perishable food items for Feed the Kids. Outreach Community Center brought 10 cheerful kids to volunteer for three hours in the warehouse with their two adult chaperones. The kids were eager to get to work and everyone at HSP is thankful for everything they accomplished! The group was able to learn more about HSP through both work and touring our center.

     We would like to thank Outreach Community Center for their dedication and support to HSP over the years! We appreciate the time they put into helping us prepare for our upcoming Feed the Kids event and look forward to working with the volunteer group later this week.

     HSP depends significantly on volunteers such as, Outreach Community Center to help us better serve the needs of seniors and families in DuPage and Kane counties. If you or your group is interested in learning more about HSP or getting involved, please contact us at (630) 221-8340, or by email at hsp@humanitarianservice.org. 

Thanks for six great months, Tom!

Last January, Humanitarian Service Project welcomed Tom McCann to the family. It’s hard to believe how fast the last six months have gone by because today is his last day on the job. Tom can look back at his experience at HSP and know that his contributions have helped over a dozen senior citizens. When he was in the process of deciding where to do an internship he chose HSP because he wanted to give back to the community through his work.

Tom has been working under Tierney, Senior Citizen Project
Coordinator, for the last six months.

As an intern, his main tasks include writing senior updates for the Senior Citizen Program. Sponsors will read Tom’s updates and decide whether they will continue to provide money to seniors living in poverty in the Dupage and Kane country area. Tom’s updates include information on the senior’s background, their financial situation, and health status.

Tom has taken part in a multitude of projects and events at HSP, but his favorite memory was interviewing the senior citizens. There was one specific time when a senior told Tom that having someone to talk to really makes a difference in their life. Tom enjoyed that his job was making people happy.

Tom’s plans for the rest of the summer include finishing his summer semester classes at the Adler School of Psychology. He will work part time at his father’s company, McCann’s painting, where he will paint the interior and exterior of buildings as well as construct ramps for buildings to become wheelchair accessible.

Within the next year, Tom plans to graduate from the Adler School of Psychology with his Masters degree in gerontological counseling. This means that Tom will be counseling older adults, aged 55 and older. After graduate school, he would like to start his own private practice in Illinois.

We wish Tom all the best in his future endeavors, we know he will excel in his career.

Wonderful group of volunteers from Living Out Loud!

            On this lovely Thursday, we had two volunteer groups come in from St. Petronille Parish in Glen Ellyn, Resurrection Bartlett, and Visitation in Elmhurst. This was the Living Out Loud group of 7^th and 8^th graders from the three churches.

            Every summer they have a 2-day service retreat where they do all different kinds of service and for many years, they have been coming to HSP. Valerie Della Penne organized the kids to come in today. The morning group worked on packing 100, 25 lbs boxes of non-perishable food items for our Feed the Kids program and the afternoon group finished the boxes and helped us sort 70 cases of meat. All the kids were very hard working and ready for any task they were given to do.  

            We would once again like to thank our wonderful volunteers for all their help. HSP is always looking for more volunteers. If you or your group is interested in volunteering at HSP, please give us a call at 630-221-8340 or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org. 

Personal Care Kit Items Needed!

As part of our Senior Citizen Project, every three months HSP delivers 121 Personal Care Kits to the needy seniors we serve. These packages are in addition to the 100 pounds of groceries and fresh produce that they already receive monthly from HSP! In our last Delivery Day to seniors, we included the personal care kits in with their groceries as an extra surprise. These care kits help the seniors lead happy and healthy lifestyles because they often don’t have enough money to purchase these necessary items. These kits include:

• 2 Shampoo

• 2 Conditioner

• 1 Lip Balm

• 1 Toothbrush

• 1 Tooth Paste • 2 Dental Floss

• 2 Lotion (~8 oz.)

• 6 Bar Soap

• 1 Hand Sanitizer

                                                                      Items from the June Personal Care Kits!



All of the items that we put into the care kits have been donated generously by members of the community. Right now, we are in desperate need of Conditioner especially! However, all items would be greatly appreciated. If you are interested in donating, please contact us at 630-221-8340, email us at HSP@humanitarianservice.org, or come by our office in Carol Stream. Thank you!




                                                                                      

HSP Thanks Two Hardworking Groups of Volunteers

On this beautiful summer day Humanitarian Service Project (HSP) was delighted to have to very joyful groups of volunteers. The hardworking employees of the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and a sweet group of middle school aged girls from First Presbyterian Church contributed parts of their day to helping our very needy seniors and families.

The first group of volunteers were employees from the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company in Warrenville. Liberty Mutual has volunteered with HSP in the past. Today they brought along 11 volunteers as apart of their “Serve with Liberty” program. This program allows their employees to go out into their communities and volunteer at a place of their choice. The volunteers started off their day with us by creating 100, 25 lbs, boxes of non perishables for our Feed the Kids program that runs through the summer months of June, July, and August. When they were done boxing non-perishables they moved their focus to helping us sort through non perishables and frozen meats for both our families in the Feed the Kids project and our seniors in the Senior Citizen Project. In addition, they did a fantastic job of helping us organize our freezer in the HSP warehouse. We are grateful for all their hard work today and look forward to seeing them again next year.

The second group of 6 volunteers were middle school girls from First Presbyterian Church in Wheaton. These girls are part of Vacation Bible School (VBS) that occurs through their church for a week each summer. As a part of their program they spent an hour of their day today with us. In addition, they brought us 3 tubs of non-perishables weighing 95lbs each which will be a tremendous help towards our needy seniors monthly grocery deliveries. We are thankful for all of their tremendous help today and we hope to see them again soon.

Again, HSP would like to thank today’s volunteers for all of their hard work. HSP is always looking for more volunteers. If you or your group is interested in volunteering at HSP, please give us a call at 630-221-8340 or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org. 

St. Raphael Catholic Parish Donates a Van-full of Food Products!

     Friday, Humanitarian Service Project was amazed with the amount of food items donated by St. Raphael Catholic Parish in Naperville. The church’s Vacation Bible School recently held a food and fundraising drive to collect what turned out to be an abundance of food items. Most of the items included soup, tuna, and canned vegetables. St. Raphael Catholic Parish has been a faithful supporter of HSP, and this drive exemplifies their continuous support through generous food and monetary donations. Geri Ferreri, Religious Education Coordinator, and Karen Doman of the parish came in with a van-full of food items that literally made the backend of the van sag!

     The food collected from the Vacation Bible School food drive will be added to our Senior Citizen Project, which serves needy seniors in DuPage and Kane counties. Seniors living in poverty often do not have access to nutritious food, but with donations such as this, needy seniors are able to receive healthy groceries once a month. Each month HSP distributes 6 tons of groceries to 121 seniors in need. HSP is extremely appreciative of all the hard work and time put into making this food drive possible. We thank you, St. Raphael Catholic Parish and the Vacation Bible School, for your constant support and donations. Everyone at HSP and the seniors in SCP value all you do for the program and are grateful for your generosity!

            HSP relies greatly on donations and volunteers to better serve needy seniors and families in the surrounding community. Therefore, we are truly thankful for all your support, whether financially or through donations and volunteer work. If you or your group is interested in helping HSP continue to make a positive impact in the lives of our seniors please contact us at (630) 221-8340, or by email at hsp@humanitarianservive.org. Please visit our website to learn more about our projects and volunteer opportunities: http://humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/FoodItemNeeded.pdf. 

It is Time for the Senior Citizen Food Delivery!

Our Wonderful Volunteers! 

            On this beautiful Friday morning, we had a number of volunteers that came to help us sort our fresh produce. We had volunteers from the Young Men’s Service League, we had some of our Delivery Day Drivers come in and help out, and we had many regular and summer volunteers.  They sorted the fresh produce that was purchased from Angelo’s Caputo and was dropped off early this morning.

            Delivery Day is our monthly food distribution day for the 121 seniors in our Senior Citizenship Project. Like the previous months, the seniors each receive a box of 15 varieties of fresh produce, their secret pal gifts, 6 bags of non-perishable food, 7 selections of frozen meat, bread, and paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, and facial tissue) . The seniors receive fresh fruits, vegetables and other healthy groceries to ensure that they can eat balanced meals and maintain a healthy diet.

            Tomorrow morning, we will have a team of volunteer loaders that will come early in the morning to take the food outside and then a team of drivers that will drive to the seniors’ homes.

If you are interested in volunteering at Humanitarian Service Project in order to help us make, this life altering intervention in the lives of the needy families and seniors we serve, please give us a call at 630-221-8340, or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org.

HSP Welcomes New Intern for the Summer!

HSP Welcomes New Intern for the Summer

Humanitarian Service Project (HSP) would like to give a warm welcome to Danielle Spence, the newest intern to join us for the summer.  Danielle is going to be a senior in the fall semester of 2013 at North Central College in Naperville. She will graduate with a degree in journalism in May 2014.

While at HSP, Danielle will work on our public relations.  That means she will assist HSP with writing press releases that go to local newspapers reporting of recent donations, activities while getting the word out about HSP.  This includes writing about volunteers who come in and donate their time in the warehouse, donations in which HSP receives from various donors, and letting the public know when HSP needs volunteers for one of our programs. 

Along with writing press releases, she will also help coordinate donors and volunteer groups that help out at HSP.  Lastly, Danielle will work with the rest of the HSP staff and interns with finalizing the senior updates that are created yearly from the interviews done with the seniors in the Senior Citizen Project. Danielle’s role at HSP will also be seen online through HSP’s Facebook, Twitter and blog.

Danielle wishes to gain experience with social media and writing through her summer internship at HSP.  When she graduates next year, she hopes to work in publishing. More specifically, she wishes to have a career in publishing for fashion magazines. She is also very active outside of interning at HSP. Recently, Danielle participated in a triathlon. This was an event composed of swimming, biking and running.  Danielle is looking forward to taking the position of Editor in Chief this coming semester for North Central College’s newspaper, The Chronicle.

.           We here at HSP are excited for Danielle to join our team. Join us in our welcoming of Danielle! 

Volunteers Help HSP on June’s Distribution Day

Produce to be distributed to families!

Today was June’s distribution day for Feed the Kids, and thus a very busy day for Humanitarian Service Project (HSP). HSP had many volunteers from Charter One, United Stationers and individual volunteers who came out to help with our distribution day.  We would like to thank the volunteers who came out to help us during our always busy distribution day. FTK distributed the 100 families in Feed the Kids their delivery of groceries for the month of June.  In the first three hours, 50 of those 100 families were given their monthly delivery. With a mix of our volunteers, our interns and our staff helping with distribution to the families, HSP’s warehouse was a very busy place. HSP’s driveway had a steady stream of cars to load up with the groceries all morning! The families receive 175 lbs of non-perishable, fresh produce and frozen meat.  Also, they receive a selection of 15 varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables, 3 boxes of non-perishables weighing 25 pounds each, 7 kinds of frozen meats, 3 loaves of Pepperidge Farm bread.

United Stationers' volunteers help
load cars full of groceries

Every month during the summer, HSP runs the Feed the Kids program, a program that concentrates on hunger relief.  More specifically, the program delivers food to those who are enrolled in their school’s subsidized lunch program.  The subsidized lunch programs provide the children proper nutrition during the summer months where the school lunch program is discontinued because school is out.  To combat this absence of school lunches and the nutrition they provide for children, HSP gives the families in Feed the Kids a monthly delivery of fresh groceries that are very nutritious to children and adults alike. 

Despite the questionable weather, the distribution day went as smoothly as silk.  All of our volunteers were great and adapted to the on the fly changes which HSP’s staff had to make to the distribution to make sure that everybody got what they needed in a safe and quick manner. HSP would like to thank the volunteers from Charter One, United Stationers and the individual volunteers who came out on their day off to help out a great cause.  We are grateful for their time.  Our upcoming days for Feed the Kids distribution are July 10 and August 7. Volunteers are greatly needed, and any help that volunteers can provide is always greatly appreciated.  There are two shifts that volunteers can work: 9am-2pm or 1pm-6:30pm.

Volunteers from Charter One! 

 Any volunteer who can help with FTK will know they’re making a difference and having a positive effect in the lives of hundreds of local children! If you are interested in volunteering, do not hesitate to call HSP’s office at 630-221-8340 or email us hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Five Kohl’s Employees Volunteer at Humanitarian Service Project

The group from Kohl's

Today we had the pleasure of hosting five Kohl’s employees from Wheaton, IL. They helped volunteer with Humanitarian Service Project to prepare for tomorrow’s Feed the Kids distribution. The five volunteers helped out in the warehouse by sorting the produce. We would like to thank them for taking the time out of their busy schedules to volunteer at HSP. They have connected with HSP through the program, Associate’s in Action, this program encourages Kohl’s employees to engage in service throughout the community. Each time Kohl’s volunteers with HSP they donate $500 to the event.

Patty Capela, a manager from the Kohl’s in Wheaton, IL, has regularly been volunteering with HSP for the past few years. All of the Kohl’s employees have taken a part in HSP events such as pantry reorganization and gift wrapping presents for the Children’s Birthday Project. “We love coming to Humanitarian Service Project, we like to have the satisfaction of helping others,” said Capela. She has been volunteering around the community for about 25 years.

Feed the Kids is a program that will ensure that 100 needy families receive 175 pounds of nutritious groceries throughout the summer in June, July and August. Giving these families fresh produce, non-perishables and frozen meat is a very important part of this program. The families will receive fresh fruits, vegetables and other healthy groceries to ensure that they can eat balanced meals and maintain a healthy diet.

If you are interested in volunteering at Humanitarian Service Project in order to help us make this life altering intervention in the lives of the needy families we serve, please give us a call at 630-221-8340, or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org.

HSP Warmly Welcomes a New Staff Member

Today was an exciting day for the Humanitarian Service Project (HSP) as we welcomed our new staff member, Michelle, into our office. Michelle is going to be HSP’s new Senior Citizen Project Coordinator, as we have to bid a very fond farewell to our current coordinator, Tierney. Tierney is returning to school to continue her education this coming fall, we are sad to see Tierney go, but we are also very excited for all the exciting opportunities that lie ahead for her.  

Michelle is a 2010 college graduate from Northern Michigan University (NMU). While at NMU, Michelle studied Spanish/international Studies and Political Science. After graduating, she spent a few years working with the international non-profit organization, Feed My Starving Children (FMSC). During her time at FMSC she traveled the country working with volunteer groups and speaking publically to groups of behalf of their organization.

Michelle’s love for non-profit service work is what led her to HSP. She hopes to help HSP make a larger impact in the community, and to also utilize her Spanish speaking skills more. Her Spanish speaking skills will be a tremendous help for both the HSP staff and for our Spanish speaking clients.

When Michelle is not doing service work her spare time is spent snowboarding and doing yoga. She also enjoys learning and never passes up an opportunity that would enable her to grow.

Again, HSP would like to give a very warm welcome to our new staff member Michelle. She is very excited to see all the opportunities that HSP has to offer. We are confident that her knowledge, experience, and love for learning will be a huge asset to HSP. We know that she will be a great new addition to our team. So, please help us give a kind welcome to our new staff member, Michelle.  

School Supply Drive Time!

It is time for our annual school supply drive! As every year, we serve many needy children each summer and all the donated items are sent to the DuPage County Back-To-School Fair. This fair provides families living on low and reduced incomes to receive school supplies for the school year. We are looking for new school supplies so that we can give impoverished children the opportunity to succeed academically and allow them to feel more on the same level as their peers.

 Once all these items are collected, they will be distributed to schools with an 80% or more need.

            To make 2013 a success, we are endeavoring to supply over 4,000 children with school supplies that they will receive before the school year begins. We will be distributing as early as August 1^st and we will continue to provide school supplies to children well into the month of October.

            If you are interested in donating please contact us at 630-221-8340, email us at HSP@humanitarianservice.org, or come by our office in Carol Stream.

Here is our School Supply List!

1.      Backpacks

2.      Scissors

3.      Glue

4.      Crayons

5.      Markers

6.      Colored pencils

7.      Colored folders

8.      Notebooks/Notebook Paper

9.      Pens (black, blue, and red)

10. Highlighters

11. Pencils

12. Erasers

13. Calculators

14. Rules/ Protractors

 Index Cards and Post- its

HSP's Volunteer Opportunities!

Need something to do Friday June 14^th  and Saturday June 15^th? Come out to HSP and help at our great events. Every month we have a delivery day for our needy seniors enrolled in SCP.

            On June 14^th, we need eight volunteers from 9:30-12:00 to help sort out the produce that will be given to the seniors. Following that, on Saturday June 16^th, we are looking for three volunteers from 7:45- 11:30 am, to help us load cars that will deliver the food to the seniors.

            The mission of the Senior Citizen project is to provide nutritional food for the 121 needy seniors we serve in DuPage and Kane Counties every month. If you are interested in anyway, please give us a call at (630) 221-8340 or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org. Thank You!

HSP Salutes Redbox and National Charity League Volunteers

Today the Humanitarian Service Project had two groups of volunteers in our warehouse helping to sort food for the upcoming Feed the Kids and Senior Citizen Project distribution. One group was from Redbox sorting non-perishables. The second group was from the National Charity League sorting meats.

The first group that helped us was the Redbox division of Coinstar. Redbox brought 15 volunteers to sort non-perishables.  The Redbox employees started out sorting non-perishables for Feed the Kids.  When they were done with that, they moved on to sorting meats for the Senior Citizen Project. It was their first time volunteering at HSP’s warehouse. Redbox chose us because the company promotes volunteerism, and the local Carol Stream office came out to help. 

The second group, who volunteered with us today, National Charity League, spent their whole time sorting meats for the Senior Citizen Project. National Charity League is a mother-daughter organization that specializes in philanthropy and public service. There were 6 volunteers from the greater Naperville chapter of the National Charity League who came out to help us today.  According to Nicole Suchevits, the organization is the only mother-daughter philanthropy organization in the country. This is the second time that National Charity League volunteered with us this month.  Last week on May 30^th, a group of 9 volunteered in the warehouse.  The National Charity League works with different non-profits that concentrate on community service. 

HSP would like to thank both the employees of Redbox and the women from the National Charity League for spending their afternoon today helping us with our upcoming distribution days for Feed the Kids and Senior Citizen Project. If you are interested in volunteering at HSP, call us at 630-221-8340 or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org

Girl Scout Troop 1157 Lends a Helping Hand!

Today, Humanitarian Service Project welcomed a vibrant group of girls from Girl Scout Troop 1157 through our doors to learn more about our various programs. The girls were eager to volunteer to sort non-perishables for our Feed the Kids program. Nineteen volunteers spent 3 hours learning and experiencing what goes on at HSP. We want to thank the troop and their leaders, Dawn and Kathy, for their interest in helping HSP in preparing 100 boxes of non-perishables for the Feed the Kids program.

             Girl Scout Troop 1157, from LaGrange, was established 7 years ago. Dawn Aubert and her co-leader, Kathy, have been working with this troop for two years now. Dawn expressed, “We talked to the girls about what they wanted to do and they really wanted to help others in the community; about 75% of what we do is spent in service.” Dawn shared that they chose HSP because there are not organizations other than food pantries in their area, and they liked that HSP did more than one program. Dawn heard about HSP and the Children’s Birthday Project years ago and wanted to get involved with an organization that cares for the young and the elderly.

            Troop 1157 has contributed to HSP through donated items in the past such as, last year the girls prepared items for the senior care kits. However, today was an exciting time for the troop as they worked firsthand in the warehouse sorting food for Feed the Kids. The Feed the Kids program was especially important to the troop because they have seen the amount of children at school who receive subsidized lunches. Troop 1157 had a desire to reach out to youth in need because they have witnessed some of their peers going through similar situations at their school. Dawn, Kathy, and the troop wanted to be able to help kids and families in need, and found that HSP’s Feed the Kids program was the right fit.

            Everyone at HSP is thankful for the troop’s passion to reach out to the community and to help those in need. Troop 1157, we thank you for dedicating your time and donating food and personal care items to help the seniors we serve. We appreciate your service and willingness to learn more about HSP and the programs we have to offer! Volunteers are such a valuable part of HSP, if you or your organization is interested in volunteering to help serve families and seniors in need in the DuPage and Kane counties please contact us at (630)221-8340 or by email at hsp@humanitarianservice.org.

HSP says Goodbye to a Bright Intern

Tasha is seated left Center Chair

Friday was a bittersweet day for the Humanitarian Service Project (HSP), as we bid a fond farewell to one of our spring intern, Tasha Murphy. Tasha joined the HSP team in March as a general Intern. Throughout her time here at HSP her positive attitude and bright personality shined through all the work she did for us. She assisted us with many of our different projects. Tasha did an unbelievable job contacting HSP friends in the community to participate in food drives. Through her hard work, she called hundreds of individuals, schools, and churches asking for support. Through her efforts the community came forward donating food and paper products (toilet paper, paper towers, and facial tissue) to our seniors in need. Tasha also contacted clients in our summer Feed the Kids program, worked on library displays, and assisted our front desk admin, Bridget, she really did it all. 

During her time at HSP, she was also a student attending Elmhurst College. Excitingly, she graduated on Saturday with a bachelors degree in management. She plans to return to her home state of Michigan to be with her family for the summer and then hopes to either return to school for her masters or land a job in management.

The HSP staff would like to throw our hats off to Tasha and thank her for the cheerful atmosphere she brought to the office and all the hard work she did during her time with us. The amount of dedication and enthusiasm that she put forward greatly helped HSP get the word out to the community about ways to help us serve. We congratulate her on her graduation and wish her the best of luck with her bright and promising future.