HSP is set to race in the 2015 DuPage Human Race

HSP is gearing up to participate in the DuPage Human Race on April 25, 2015 and welcomes you to come out and join us. The DuPage Human Race is a 5k run/2 mile fitness walk to benefit 50+ non-profit organizations in DuPage County including HSP.  This community event provides non-profit organizations, of all sizes, the opportunity to raise awareness about their mission and raise funds.

This will be HSP’s fourth year in the race. You can walk or run on behalf of HSP, or donate to support the runners and walkers. HSP receives a portion of the entry fee for those that participate in the event.  The money raised by HSP in the race goes to support the many seniors, children, and families enrolled in our programs.  The Human Race takes place on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 9:00 a.m., at The Esplanade at Locust Point, 1901 W. Butterfield Road, Downers Grove.

It’s best to register early before the register fee rises. The next date for the registration fee to rise is March 1, 2015. Register today and list Humanitarian Service Project as the agency you will be representing!

HSP Receives Party-in-a-Box Kits

Yesterday, HSP received a wonderful donation from the youth group at St. Joseph Church in Downers Grove. As a service project, the members put together 23 Party-in-a-Box kits Monday evening. Each of these kits includes all the essentials to throw a birthday party—cake, frosting, candles, balloons, streamers, party favors, etc—and they will be included in the birthday boxes for the underprivileged children served through our Children’s Birthday Project. The youth members have made Party-in-a-Box and Senior Care Kits for us many times in the past, and we are always so grateful for their thoughtfulness.

While they were working on the Party-in-a-Box kits, St. Joseph's hosted our volunteer speaker Georgeann Georges, who spoke with the kids about HSP and our services. Georgeann also dropped the kits off at HSP yesterday afternoon. We are so thankful to St. Joseph's Youth Group for putting together these kits, and we are so thankful to Georgeann for visiting with them and dropping the kits off. These will help make many kids in our Children's Birthday Project have a truly wonderful birthday.

Help Us Feed the Community

Usually at this time of the year, we would be gearing up for the “Feinstein Challenge,” an annual event that engages people all across America in combating local hunger.

However, this year the sponsoring foundation will not be running the challenge. They will instead focus on other worthwhile pursuits.

That being said, this will not halt HSP’s endeavors to fight hunger in our communities. We need the support of community members to feed needy seniors and families.

Food drives are especially needed in spring as we prepare to feed 100 needy families in the summer, through our Feed the Kids program.

If you are considering donating food, keep in mind this list of our most-needed food items: breakfast items (such as oatmeal, pancake mix, etc.), boxed potatoes, canned fruits, vegetables and tuna, pasta/rice meals and plain pasta.

As always, we thank you for your continued support of HSP, and if you are interested in hosting a food drive, check out our website.

February Delivery Day

This past Saturday we had our monthly delivery day for the seniors enrolled in our Senior Citizen Project. We would like to thank the dozens of volunteers that came out early in the morning to brave the cold. Everything went smoothly as they assisted us in delivering over 6 tons of nourishing groceries directly to the homes of the seniors we serve.  So many people contribute to the success of our Delivery Days each month. From our Monday morning team to our secret pal coordinator, loaders, and drivers we could not do this without each and every one of you. In the month of love we wish to tell you how much we love and adore your commitment to serving those who need it most. 

Produce Sorting With COD Cares

Tomorrow is our monthly Senior Citizen Project Delivery Day here at HSP, and everyone is keeping very busy getting everything ready for our seniors. We were thankful to have some amazing volunteers from the College of DuPage come in to help us sort fresh produce and bread that will be delivered to the seniors tomorrow. These 11 volunteers are a part of "COD Cares," a community service group at the school for staff and students. This was our first time hosting volunteers from "COD Cares," but they did generously provide "Giving Tree" gifts for needy kids during our Christmas Offering last December. We are so grateful for all of their help, and we hope to see them again in the near future.

A HUGE Thank You to the Naperville Junior Woman’s Club

Today HSP had the pleasure of hosting several members from the Naperville Junior Woman’s Club. For the past two years, HSP has been blessed to be the chosen charity of the club’s Community Improvement Project. In this capacity, our friends from the NJWC have hosted a number of exciting fundraising events, given their time as volunteers, and done much more for the sake of the needy seniors, children, and families enrolled in our programs. The representatives from the NJWC who visited today came to present HSP with the money they raised through their fundraising events in 2014. We at HSP are incredibly grateful for the support of the NJWC throughout our two years as the chosen charity of their Community Improvement Project. We thank them for the outpouring of generosity they have bestowed on the very deserving seniors, children, and families we serve.

Waubonsie Valley High School Holds Paper Drive

Over the past week, Waubonsie Valley High School (WVHS) held a school-wide paper drive to help the needy seniors we serve.

This year’s drive, which was spearheaded by the student council, marks the fourth consecutive year WVHS students have put on a paper drive for our seniors.

All of the donated paper was picked up yesterday by our volunteer driver, Bill Fehling. The drive was such a success that our new van was filled to the brim with thousands of paper products.

Bill said the students he met were very spirited and really enjoyed helping him load up the van with all of the paper they collected.

We want to give a big thanks to everyone at WVHS for making this happen! If you or your group is interested in hosting a paper or food drive, you can learn more at our website.  

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day is a time to spread some love to those we adore the most. We wanted to recognize those who take the effort to spread a little joy and love to the seniors we serve. On Friday, we received wonderful, homemade Valentine's for the seniors from Girl Scout Troop 50487. These thoughtful, and frankly adorable, cards will be distributed to the seniors this Saturday, along with cards by Forest Glen Elementary 5^th grade ambassadors. We wish to thank these groups for the amazing cards! 

These fun cards will show the seniors that they are loved and cared for and that they are in people’s thoughts. We would also like to thank everyone who has volunteered or donated to our projects and for graciously putting in the time and effort to help us spread the love.  

Welcome Back, Ms. Heggen's Class!

Today, HSP welcomed back our very good friends in Ms. Heggen's class at Glenbard South High School. They visit us nearly every month and are always fun, spirited, and eager to help out. On this visit, they helped us by sorting paper products that will go to our seniors at our monthly delivery day next week. The class focuses on helping the students gain real world vocational skills through community service. As always, we are so grateful for all of the students' help, and we look forward to seeing them and their smiling faces every month.

Caring Is In The Air

Earlier this week, the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva made a wonderful heartfelt donation of personal care kits for the sake of the seniors in HSP’s Senior Citizen Project. USSG purchased and divided all the supplies for personal care kits at a recent USSG event where they made each senior in our program a kit. USSG has done this as a service project annually for the past 5 years.

HSP distributes personal care kits every 3 months with each senior’s monthly grocery delivery. Our personal care kits include health and hygiene products such as:

•  Shampoo and Conditioner
•  Body Wash and Soap   
•  Toothpaste and Toothbrush  
•   Lotion
•   Etc.

USSG also included some fun extras for our seniors like activity books and hot chocolate. This amazing donation of personal care kits will help our seniors greatly, and HSP wishes to thank everyone at the USSG who participated in the project. For more information on personal care kits, please click here. 

Happy Birthday, Jan!

Today, we here at HSP are celebrating the birthday of our toy room supervisor, Jan Thompson!

Jan puts so much of her time and energy into making sure the children we serve have exciting and enjoyable birthdays that we wanted to ensure that her birthday was special as well. The HSP staff sat down to lunch together today to do just that.

Jan supervises and works hand in hand with our volunteers to make the birthday boxes we send to underprivileged children throughout the year. She is truly a blessing to HSP and a joy to work with!

We know that many of our supporters and volunteers have gotten to know Jan over the years, so please join us in wishing Jan a very happy birthday!

Join HSP at the 2015 DuPage Human Race

We are already over a month into 2015, which means the 4^th annual DuPage Human Race is fast approaching.

For those who are unfamiliar with it, the Human Race is a 5k run/2 mile fitness walk to benefit over 50 non-profit organizations that do great work in DuPage County. 

As with the previous three years, HSP will be participating, and we would love for others to join in. You can run or walk on behalf of HSP, or donate to show your support of our runners and walkers. All of the funds HSP raises from this event will support the needy seniors, children, and families enrolled in our programs.

The race will take place on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 9:00 a.m., at The Esplanade at Locust Point, 1901 W. Butterfield Road, Downers Grove.

To register for this event, click here (please list “Humanitarian Service Project” as the agency you will be representing): https://www.athletepath.com/dupage-human-race/2015-04-25. Make sure you register early though, because the earlier you register, the cheaper the fee. The next price increase occurs on March 1^st.

For information, check out their website: http://dupagehumanrace.org. 

Boxes of Love

Today we received a wonderful donation from Divine Savior Parish in Downers Grove. 128 “Boxes of Love” for each of the 125 seniors in our Senior Citizen Project were made and donated. Volunteers Rich Patera, who is a member of Divine Savior, and Tom Hogan graciously gave their time today to pick up these festive boxes.

These Boxes of Love contain many items such as facial tissue, toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, soap, lotion and other essential items to help the seniors maintain a healthy lifestyle. These seniors in our program receive these items every three months in the form of “senior care kits”.  Since Valentine’s Day is only 5 days away, the boxes are Valentine themed and also include special treats so each senior can feel like they are receiving their own personal Valentine. Divine Savior has been doing this every year for us and has been one of our biggest supporters for over two decades donating these beautiful boxes for years. We truly appreciate the amazing “love” they are spreading in the community to the people that need it most.  

COD Service Fair

This past Wednesday, the College of DuPage hosted its Service Learning Fair, and HSP was proud to be one of the organizations present. Service Learning is a program at COD that allows students the chance to work and serve in various areas of their community that coincides with the coursework and materials they are studying in class. This program is helpful for both the students and organizations on how to help out in their community, and we get some extra help here at HSP. In order to help their students determine what kind of service work would be most beneficial to their specific needs--as well as educate them on what is available--the Service Learning Program hosts a fair, inviting service groups from the neighboring areas to come in and talk about their programs.

HSP has attended the Service Learning Fair in the past and was more than happy to do it again. Students were able to get a brief overview of HSP's programs and ask any questions that they had. Students who were interested in learning more about how to help out provided their contact information and picked up brochures and flyers on their way out. HSP is always grateful for our COD volunteers, and it was very rewarding to see so many students interested in helping us continue to make a difference in the community.

Volunteer Spotlight: Volunteer Van Drivers

In the midst of snowy days, HSP is grateful for the volunteers that are pushing through the cold to help us with donations. We are thankful for volunteers who give their time to keep our programs running smoothly.

One such volunteer is Dean Senne who graciously gave his time to help HSP by picking up a donation for the needy children in our Children’s Birthday Project. Dean is just one of the wonderful volunteer van drivers that make essential pick-ups and deliveries to and from our center.

HSP’s volunteer van drivers contribute their time helping us to:

•   Pick-up donations
• Transport food from the Northern Illinois Food Bank to our center
• Drop off Birthday Boxes to needy children at our partner schools and Head Start locations
• And much more on a weekly basis

We at HSP would like to give a special shout out of appreciation to Bill, Jeff, Larry, Tom, Rich, and Don for making an amazing difference in the community. We love you guys! We could not do it without you!

Support Seniors this Spring with a Food Drive

 

With so many served during Christmas time this past year, we here at HSP will spend most of our winter and spring seasons restocking our shelves to ensure we have enough for the needy seniors we serve every month. As we do every year, we will be relying on donations and food drives from the community to make sure our programs run smoothly.

This week we have received a number of wonderful food drives from some of our very generous supporters. The Rotary Club of Wheaton collected six bags of canned soup, our volunteer Rich Patera picked up an SUV packed full of food donated by Divine Savior Parish, United Stationers brought in three boxes of food and Stratford Middle School dropped off seven boxes and one bag of donated food!

We are very grateful for the continued support from these groups by helping us make a big difference in the lives of needy seniors. If you or your group is interested in helping serve local seniors in need, give us a call at 630-221-8340, or click here to learn more.

Meet Rachel!

HSP welcomed another new face this week. Meet Rachel Grotto, the newest member of our intern team! Rachel lives in Winfield and is a senior at Elmhurst College. She is studying Business Management with a focus in Human Resources. She hopes to move to Seattle in the future and pursue a career at a big corporation like Amazon or Nordstrom. For fun, Rachel enjoys reading and hanging out with her friends. She also plays the violin.

Rachel first heard about HSP from a past HSP intern who thought she'd enjoy working with us. She did community service in high school and uses her spare time to help out at book fairs at her local library. During her time here, Rachel will be working as a Project Management Intern. Her main priority will be assisting with outreach, which will involve getting in touch with schools and other groups we have worked with in the past in order to set up new food and paper drives this spring. Please help us all in extending a warm welcome to Rachel!

Super Support on a Snowy Day

The view was white as could be outside of HSP’s Center today as a result of yesterday’s blizzard. After a late start due to the weather, however, things are back to normal at HSP.

After contending with yesterday’s snow, we would like to focus on a more delightful surprise, a wonderful donation from the students from St. Joan of Arc school in Lisle. For “Catholic School Week” last week, the students at St. Joan of Arc ran a party supplies drive for the needy children enrolled in our Children’s Birthday Project. Each grade level collected a different item to create “party in a box kits” full of everything needed to throw an amazing and memorable birthday party. In total, the students collected over 30 boxes full of supplies, with enough to make over 40 full “party in a box kits” along with an avalanche of extra goodies.

“Party in a box kits” are an important part of the 20-25 lb. Birthday Boxes HSP provides to 925 underprivileged children each year. We want to thank everyone at St. Joan of Arc School for helping us provide these amazing kits to more than 40 of these children.