Become A Secret Pal Today!

HSP is looking for people interested in spreading joy to low-income seniors to join our Secret Pal Program. HSP’s Secret Pals are generous individuals who donate gifts every month to a senior enrolled in our Senior Citizen Project to be delivered to their homes alongside 100 lbs grocery. This kind gesture every month puts a big smile on our seniors’ faces. Secret Pals’ gifts can contain many different items like: 

•  Candles 
• Picture Frames
• Stationery
•  Lotions and Shower Gels
• Crossword Puzzle Books & Puzzles
• Pots/Pans
•  Blankets
• Plants
• Gift Cards

Currently, we have five seniors who need a Secret Pal. If you are interested in providing special, small gifts every month to put a little extra joy into the life of a needy senior,please contact HSP at 630-221-8340 or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org to become a Secret Pal today!

Thank You to Two Wonderful Groups of Students!

Washington Junior High School Service Matters Club

Over the past two days, HSP has had two volunteer groups graciously give their time to help out in the warehouse to help make sure that the seniors and families in our programs get the nutritious food that they need. On Monday, a group of fourteen volunteers from Pleasantdale Middle School in Burr Ridge joined us. For two hours, they sorted food for both the seniors and families served by our Senior Citizen Project and Feed the Kids program. This volunteer event was part of a school wide service day in which groups of Pleasantdale students helped at a number of organizations. Pleasantdale students and staff have been longtime supporters of HSP. Yesterday, a group of ten students from the Service Matters Club of Washington Junior High School in Naperville donated about 500 non-perishable items. They stayed and sorted these items for one hour. They even stuck around for a tour to learn more about HSP and how their service will impact the community. The students collected the food as part of a school-wide donation contest. Thank you to both volunteer groups for coming out and helping HSP make a difference in the lives of the deserving senior and families in our programs.

Carol Stream Community Food Drive

This past Saturday, HSP was excited to be one of the recipient agencies of the Carol Stream community-wide food drive, an annual event sponsored by the Rotary Club of Carol Stream. HSP was one of the six local agencies who benefited from this generous donation. We received hundreds of pounds of non perishables, filling our cargo van with donations. We would like to thank everyone who participated in this event for going the extra mile to help us feed the seniors and families in our programs. Together we can make miracles happen for those who need us the most! 

The Human Race

This past Saturday, HSP was very excited to participate in The Human Race, a 5k run / walk charity event sponsored by Giving DuPage. We were glad to have so many runners and walkers representing HSP despite the cold and rainy weather. There was a lot of money raised for the non-profits/charities who serve DuPage County. HSP would like to thank all the runners/walkers who participated in the race and all of our supporters who helped us reach our fundraising goal. All of the money raised by HSP through the race will go to support the many seniors, children and families that are enrolled in our programs. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to help support HSP and for your generosity. 

Facial Tissue Needed for Senior Citizens

Spring time brings with it a lot of wonderful opportunities, but one not so exciting thing that arrives with the spring weather is an increased need for facial tissue. Whether it is because of seasonal allergies, colds, or more serious respiratory issues now is the time a lot of people find themselves reaching for tissue after tissue. This is true for the many of the low-income seniors enrolled in our Senior Citizen Project, and we need your help to provide them with the tissues they need.

Every month, HSP provides each of the seniors enrolled in our program with two bags of paper products including paper towels, toilet paper, and tissues. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters we have the toilet paper and paper towels needed to supply these seniors for many months. However, facial tissue is in short supply. Please consider donating for the sake of the deserving seniors we serve. Contact HSP for more info: hsp@humanitarianservice.org, 630-221-8340.

Ribfest Time Slots are Filling Fast!

Naperville Exchange Club’s Ribfest is still a few months away but volunteer slots are filling up fast. RibFest is being held July 2nd – 5th with headliners Sammy Hagar, Kelly Pickler, and the Band Perry. RibFest is a great volunteering opportunity that lets you have fun in the sun while raising  thousands of dollars for charities that help serve children in need, like HSP. The greater the amount of volunteers we have representing us, the larger amount of funding we receive to support the children enrolled in our Feed the Kids program. You can sign up today to represent HSP at this great event by contacting us at 630-221-8340 or emailing us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org.

There are many wonderful volunteer slots at RibFest. You can work at the admission gates, child identification, clean up, or work as a general “as needed” volunteer. Also, volunteers who are 21 and older can work at the beverage tent.  An added bonus for volunteers is free admission to the event on the day they volunteer. Available shifts are 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. or 4 p.m. – 10 p.m. on July 2nd -5th.

Make it a priority and resister today to get your desired slot because they are filling up fast. We hope to see you there!

Thank You, Giant Steps

Yesterday, HSP had the pleasure of hosting a group of nine students and aides from Giant Steps. The group spent more than an hour in the warehouse sorting non-perishable foods for the needy families served by our Feed the Kids program. This group have become regular volunteers who lend their support on an almost monthly basis and they are always a joy to host! We are so grateful to have this group come in and help support the families and seniors enrolled in our programs.

A “Thank You” from Some Very Happy Kids

Yesterday, HSP’s Executive Director Kristin Maxwell and Administrative Assistant Bridget

A thank you from the children at Carol Stream Head Start

Dooley were invited to Head Start in Carol Stream. This is just one of the locations served by our Children’s Birthday Project. Kristin and Bridget met with some of the kids that are enrolled in our program. They were very happy about the toys they received and gushed about how much they loved them. They were so grateful that they made thank you cards for everyone who makes the Children’s Birthday Project a success. The Children’s Birthday Project serves 925 children every year, many of whom are enrolled at schools with high populations of poverty such as Carol Stream Head Start. We are so appreciative for everyone who participates in the Children’s Birthday Project making sure that these children receive special gifts on their birthdays, and their families are too! 

School Donation Extravaganza

As the school year comes to its final stretch we’ve been happy to see many groups of students do their part to help others. On Friday, HSP received three generous donations from three different school groups. The student body from St. Isidore’s collected, created, and donated 30 “Party in a bag” kits. The 5^th grade “Power Paws” from Weisbrook Elementary collected items and donated 26 “Party in a Bag” kits for the children that are enrolled in our program. That is a total of 56 “Party in a Bag” kits! Also, the students of Interact Club of Community High School in West Chicago collected food for seniors in tandem with a school wide blood drive. They collected seven boxes and four bags of non-perishables. Thank you to the three schools for their amazing generosity!

UPS Volunteers Deliver Smiles and Support

It is a busy day at HSP as we are in the middle of preparing for our monthly “Delivery Day” for the seniors enrolled in our Senior Citizen Project tomorrow. Thankfully, we have some help in the form of five volunteers from UPS Supply Chain Solutions in Carol Stream, who graciously gave their time to help us get ready. These volunteers sorted the fresh produce and bread that will be delivered to each senior as part of their 100 lb. grocery package. Volunteers from UPS regularly come in the day prior to our monthly deliveries, and it was great to have these familiar faces lending their hands again today. With more than 6 tons of nutritious groceries being delivered every Delivery Day, we are grateful to the UPS volunteers for helping us make this much needed impact in the lives of deserving seniors throughout DuPage and Kane counties. We wish to thank them, and all of the other volunteers who make our Delivery Days possible every month.

FedEx Food Drive

On Tuesday afternoon, our friends from FedEx give us a welcome visit. Recently, the Chicago Heights FedEx facility ran a food drive and donated over 350 lbs of food to HSP. This was an extension of FedEx’s “Random Acts of Kindness” food drive. This food drive was held last month and multiple FedEx locations participated by collecting food for the seniors and families we serve. Vinnie Nedrow of Chicago Heights FedEx facility spearheaded, both last month’s and this recent donation.

We thank everyone at the Chicago Heights FedEx facility for going the extra mile and helping us feed the seniors and families in our programs. We are appreciative of all the support they have given to HSP and we look forward to working with them again soon.  

SEAL and STEPS Volunteers

Food sorted by the volunteers from SEAL

At HSP, we appreciate all of the work our volunteers do. Over the past two days, we have had two volunteer groups assist in our warehouse. A group of volunteers from SEAL, short for School of Expressive Arts and Learning, came in yesterday and sorted non-perishable food for our Feed the Kids program. The students and staff from SEAL have graciously become regular volunteers, lending their support in a myriad of ways. Today, we had STEPS, which is a transition program in District 204. STEPS came in to sort bread for the seniors that are enrolled in our program. Over the last school year, the STEPS program students have become regular volunteers at HSP as well. We would like to thank them for their continued service to HSP and we look forward to seeing them again soon! 

Volunteer Spotlight: the Monday Food Sorting Team

With our Senior Citizen Project delivery day this Saturday, we wish to recognize some of the amazing volunteers who help us make these deliveries happen every month. More specifically, our Monday Food Sorting Team. Yesterday morning, like every Monday, they came in and volunteered. Every month the Monday team prepares the six bags of non-perishables as well as the frozen meat for every senior in our program. They are dedicated and we appreciate their service which ensures that when delivery day arrives, it runs smoothly. We could not do it without them! 

Thank You First Congregational Woman's Society

HSP would like to thank The Woman’s Society of the First Congregational Church of Western Springs for running a spring service project creating 42 wonderful “Party in Bags” for needy children. On Friday, they dropped off these incredible kits. The Woman’s Society has done an annual spring service project the past several years for HSP. They have put together not only “Party in a Bag” kits in the past, but they have also donated personal care kits for the seniors as well as collecting toys for the kids enrolled in our program. Thanks to the generosity of The Woman’s Society of the First Congregational Church of Western Springs the children enrolled in our Children’s Birthday Project will celebrate very special birthdays.

Happy Birthday to Bridget!

Today was an exciting day at HSP as we took the opportunity to celebrate the birthday of one of the dynamite members of the HSP team, Bridget Dooley. Bridget does so much at HSP between coordinating our volunteers, helping to ensure our Children’s Birthday Project runs successfully, and so much more! She even goes out of her way to make cakes on everyone else’s birthdays, so we knew we had to make today special for her. HSP’s staff got together for lunch today to celebrate Bridget for being the superstar she is with a Hollywood themed birthday party.

We know many of you have gotten to know Bridget in here role as the smiling face of HSP. Please join us in wishing her an amazing birthday!

Delightful Volunteers Helping HSP Serve

Yesterday, 7 volunteers from Roselle’s Clarke Environmental spent nearly 3 hours sorting non-perishable food at HSP. The food they sorted is a big help in preparation for our summertime Feed the Kids program. The program provides 100 families with 200 lbs of groceries monthly in June, July, and August.

HSP appreciates Clarke Environmental and their constant contributions. They are very active in supporting us through our Christmas Offering, volunteering to sort food, and regularly volunteering their time to wrapping gifts for the children in the Children’s Birthday Project. Volunteers like Clarke Environmental help keep us running strong!

Today, we are welcomed back two groups of volunteers from Giant Steps in Lisle.  Groups from Giant Steps came in both this morning and this afternoon to lend their support by sorting food and paper products for our programs. They are always a joy to have and bring lots of fun and positive energy with them every time they come.

Rotary Club of Batavia

Yesterday, Bridget Dooley, a staff member here at HSP, was honored to be a guest at a meeting of the Rotary Club of Batavia. For twelve years, the club has generously been helping HSP provide birthday gifts to underprivileged children. Thanks to them, fourteen children living in Batavia are sponsored in our Children’s Birthday Project. Bridget spoke about the needs of the children that we serve that are enrolled in our program and thanked the Rotary Club of Batavia for their continued support. HSP was very excited to be invited to this event to help spread the word about the needs of children suffering under poverty in the community. We are happy that the Rotary Club of Batavia has partnered with us for so long to give children wonderful memories on their very special day by providing a Birthday Box filled with toys and books and all the makings to have a great party. We greatly appreciate their service and are excited to continue this relationship.  

Thank you to our Secret Pals

Every month, HSP is delighted to see all the wonderful and thoughtful gifts the secret pals

bring in to help us reach out to the seniors that are in our program. Our “Secret Pals” are donors who provide gifts to the 125 impoverished seniors that are enrolled in our program. The seniors receive these gifts alongside the 100 lbs. grocery delivery we send them each month. These gifts contain many different kinds of items like: gift cards, books, laundry detergent, dish soap, etc. HSP would like to thank the “secret pals” for their generosity each month. The seniors in our program enjoy receiving these little surprises with their delivery and it truly brightens their day. They are very grateful for your kindness and so are we.

Currently we have thirteen seniors who are without secret pals. If you think you would be interested in bringing joy and putting a smile on a needy seniors face, please contact HSP at 630-221-8340. 

Support HSP's Runners and Walkers in the Human Race

HSP is very excited that in less than a few weeks on April 25th, we will be participating in The DuPage Human Race! The Human Race is a 5k run / walk charity event sponsored by Giving DuPage to raise funds for non-profits/charities who serve DuPage County. We have more than a dozen people who have agreed to get out and race on our behalf, but they need your help! You can do that by going to this link:  https://secure.qgiv.com/hobnob/team/414484. Then, all you have to do is click on the donate button and provide the necessary information. Any amount given is helpful! All of the money raised by HSP through the race goes to support the many seniors, children and families that are enrolled in our programs.  

Fight Hunger this Summer by Donating Today!

Spring is pantry stocking season at HSP. We spend a great amount of time stocking our shelves in preparation for the summer. In the summer, we deliver over 6 tons of groceries monthly to seniors in our Senior Citizen Project and serve 100 families in our Feed the Kids program during the summer months of June, July, and August with over 30 tons of groceries. All of this is made possible through food donations from the community.

If you want to help us fight hunger this summer, we currently need food donations of:

• Cereal
• Canned Meats & Tuna
• Peanut Butter & Jelly
• Main Meals (Chili, Stew, Spaghetti O’s, Ravioli)
• Boxed Potatoes
• Boxed Stuffing
• Pasta & Rice Meals (Rice-a-Roni, Hamburger Helper)
• Pasta Sauce

HSP is very grateful for every size food donation we receive. Donate today and help us have a successful summer of feeding our community!

RibFest Reminder

We are fast approaching the Naperville Exchange Club’s RibFest. The RibFest is being held July 2^nd – 5^th with headliners Sammy Hager, Kelly Pickler, and the Band Perry. This great event provides thousands of dollars each year to charities serving children. HSP is one of the charities that are provided funds based on the number of volunteers we have representing us. The more volunteers we have at the event, the more money we receive for the children we serve.

Volunteer spots are quickly closing and time is running out for you to represent HSP at RibFest. Register today and choose HSP as your charity to support. You can work at the admission gates, child identification, clean up, or work as a general “as needed” volunteer. Also, volunteers who are 21 and older can work at the beverage tent.  An added bonus for volunteers is free admission to the event on the day they volunteer. Available shifts are 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. or 4 p.m. – 10 p.m. on July 2^nd -5^th.

If you are having difficulties registering on the website, you can contact us at 630-221-8340 or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org to have us register you for volunteering on behalf of HSP. We hope to see you there!

Our Volunteers Spring into Action!

Our volunteers are very important here at HSP. They help to make sure our programs to benefit seniors and families run smoothly. On Monday, a group of seven volunteers from East Aurora High School’s Student Athlete society joined us. They made special bags for our seniors that included cleaning products that will be distributed to the seniors this month. Once they completed this project, they also sorted non-perishables that were recently donated by a number of our wonderful supporters. HSP was happy that they took time out of their spring break to come lend a hand.

Today, we were delighted to host another group of volunteers this time from The LeaderShop, a service group for local youth. They came in to do the first sorting of non-perishables for our Feed the Kids program. We are grateful for the hard work and dedication and we hope to see them again soon!