Thank You to the Glen Ellyn/Wheaton Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club

HSP would like to thank the Glen Ellyn/Wheaton Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club for creating and donating 20 “party in a bag” kits for the underprivileged children in our Children’s Birthday Project. These kits were dropped off late last week, and contain all of the items needed to throw a fun and exciting birthday party.

Every child enrolled in the Children’s Birthday Project receives a “party in a bag” along with the toys, books, and other gifts in their 20-25 lb. birthday box. The party in a bag kits enable the children to celebrate their special day with items such as cake mix, frosting, balloons, streams, etc. We wish to thank the Glen Ellyn/Wheaton Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club for helping us provide happy birthday memories to these deserving children!

Thanks to Girl Scout Troop 42187 and Meadows

HSP had two wonderful volunteer groups help us finish off this week strong. Yesterday afternoon, we were blessed to have 7 members of local Girl Scout troop 42187 from Glen Ellyn volunteer their time to help us assemble birthday boxes for the underprivileged children enrolled in our Children’s Birthday Project. The girls even brought materials to donate to help make these gifts. The girls were very enthusiastic, and were wonderful volunteers.

In addition to this great group of Girl Scouts, today HSP hosted a group of volunteers from The Meadows Residential. These volunteers helped sort toilet paper for the low-income seniors enrolled in our Senior Citizen Project. This group from Meadows has been periodically volunteering their time for several months now, and they are always a joy to host. We wish to thank these two groups for giving their time to help us better serve the deserving children and seniors in our programs.

Food Items Needed

As the month of February comes to a close, HSP is currently in need of the following non-perishable food items to help needy seniors and children living in poverty:

•  Cereal
•  Oatmeal
• Pancake Mix
• Tuna / Canned Meats
• Pasta / Rice Meals
• Soup
• Canned Fruits and Veggies
• Peanut Butter & Jelly
• Main Means (Chili / Hearty Soup / Beef Stew / etc.)

If you would like to make a difference in the lives of local families and seniors by donating food items, please contact us at 630-221-8340 or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org.

Join HSP’s Team at the DuPage Human Race

There are just a few days to receive February pricing to support HSP as a runner or walker at the DuPage Human Race. The Human Race will take place on the morning of April 30^th at the Esplanade in Downers Grove. This event, run by Giving DuPage, is a 5k run/2 mile fitness walk providing people with the opportunity to raise funds for their favorite DuPage charities, including HSP. The fee for race registration increases on March 1^st. If you are interested in registering, please select “Humanitarian Service Project” as the agency you will be representing. All funds raised by HSP from the event will go directly to providing services for the low-income seniors and children in our programs. For more information, or to register, go to: https://www.dupagehumanrace.org/.

Not able to attend? Please consider supporting HSP’s runners and walkers. You can donate here: https://runsignup.com/Race/27820/Charity/2524.

Thank You, Waubonsie Valley High School

Yesterday, HSP received a wonderful donation from Waubonsie Valley High School. For the past several years, the Student Council at Waubonsie has run a school wide “paper drive” asking for donations of toilet paper, facial tissue, and paper towels for the seniors enrolled in our Senior Citizen Project. The school and student council certainly did a great job, as their paper drive filled HSP’s cargo van when our volunteer, Dean Senne, picked it up yesterday.

With 133 low-income seniors relying on our Senior Citizen Project for the paper products necessary to live a healthy lifestyle, these donations will certainly go to good use. We wish to thank everyone at Waubonsie who participated in this donation effort for helping to make a difference in the lives of the deserving seniors HSP serves.

Another Successful Delivery Day

On Saturday, HSP held its monthly “delivery day” to the low-income seniors enrolled in our Senior Citizen Project. There were dozens of volunteers who gave their time either to deliver the groceries to seniors or to help as “loaders” who packed all of the groceries in the cars of the volunteer drivers. Thanks to these volunteers, HSP successfully distributed over 6 and a half tons of groceries to the seniors enrolled in our program.

In total, the Senior Citizen Project provides access to nutritious groceries, such as fresh produce, bread, frozen meat, non-perishables, to 133 impoverished seniors. It is thanks to our Delivery Day volunteers, and other supporters of the program, that enable HSP to provide this much needed service to the deserving seniors in our program. We wish to thank them for their generosity.

Thank You, UPS Volunteers

Today, HSP was blessed to have 7 of our friends from UPS Supply Chain Solutions, in Carol Stream, volunteer their time to help us sort fresh produce and bread for the low-income seniors we serve. Tomorrow is HSP’s monthly “Delivery Day” for the seniors enrolled in our Senior Citizen Project, when our volunteers will deliver 100 lbs. of groceries to the homes of each of the 133 seniors in the program. These volunteers from UPS regularly volunteer their time on the day before each Delivery Day, to help ensure that the deserving seniors we serve receive nutritious produce and bread. We wish to thank them for their steadfast support!

Shop on Amazon and Support HSP!

Love shopping on Amazon.com?  Love HSP?  If you answered “yes” to both, today’s your day!  You can now shop on Amazon and support HSP via Amazon Smile – a program through Amazon which donates a portion of eligible purchases to a charity of your choice.  It’s an easy way to help HSP serve the seniors and children who need us most.  

If you use Amazon, click this link to smile.amazon.com to sign up now.  Every time you purchase on the website, be sure to use smile.amazon.com to help support HSP!

Girl Scout Troops Share Valentine’s Love with Seniors

Today, HSP received a very thoughtful donation for the 133 low income seniors enrolled in our Senior Citizen Project. Local Girl Scout Troops 42129 and 50487 made handmade Valentine’s Day cards for every senior in the program. These cards will be distributed to the seniors along with their 100 lb. grocery packages this Saturday on our monthly “Senior Delivery Day.” We are so grateful that these wonderful scouts took the time and effort to spread love and joy to the deserving seniors in our programs. We are sure the seniors will be truly touched by the gesture.

Indian Trail School Student Council: Thank You for Your Party in a Box Kits!

Thank you to the Student Council of Indian Trail School in Downers Grove!  The students made 21 Party in a Box kits and dropped them off at HSP last Friday.

Party in a Box/Bag kits are boxes or bags containing the necessary items such as streamers, cake mix, frosting, and balloons, to throw fun birthday parties for the low income children we serve.

If you wish to bless children with “Party in a Bag/Box” kits for their birthday parties, please contact HSP at 630-221-8340 or email hsp@humanitarianservice.org.

Happy Birthday, Jan!

Today, HSP had the opportunity to celebrate the birthday of one of the indispensable members of the HSP team, Jan Thompson. For those of you who don’t know Jan, she runs HSP’s “toy room” and oversees the creation of the birthday boxes for the more than 900 children enrolled in our Children’s Birthday Project. While keeping the Children’s Birthday Project moving forward, Jan’s wit and sense of humor also manages to keep the whole HSP staff in stitches. Jan puts so much time and energy into ensuring that the deserving children we serve are celebrated on their birthdays, we knew we had to recognize her on her special day. Please join us in wishing Jan a very happy birthday!

Thank You Cards from Grateful Kids

Yesterday, HSP received a very special delivery, a stack of thank you cards from many of the underprivileged children we served during Christmas at Currier Elementary. These cards were written back in December, after HSP was able to provide gifts for all of the low-income children at the school through our Christmas Offering program. 2015 was our largest Christmas Offering ever, with 2,272 children receiving gifts. This was thanks to all of our supporters who made the program a success. We wish to share some of the messages written on the cards, to everyone who helped us spread joy to these deserving children:

“I thank you for giving us presents. I loved what you gave us. It was wonderful, it made me so happy.”

“When I opened mine I was happy. When I grow up I will remember what you did.”

“Thank you for the presents you gave me. I enjoyed them. They were really cool. Thank you, because all day long I’ve been reading, playing, and building.”

A Donation for the Imagination

HSP had a wonderful visit today from two members of the local chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma Western Chicago alumni club. The group donated about 500 new books for the low-income children enrolled in our Children’s Birthday Project. The two members of the group, Carol Bell and Christine Power, who visited us today came in to volunteer their time to help organize their group’s donation. We at HSP believe in the importance books for children throughout the stages of their cognitive development, which is why we provide new books to each of the 900+ underprivileged children we serve. We wish to thank everyone from the Kappa Kappa Gamma alumni group for this wonderful donation.  

Throw a Birthday Party for a Child with a “Party in a Bag”!

Over the past few days, HSP has received a number of wonderful donations of “Party in a Bag” kits 900+ children enrolled in our Children’s Birthday Project.  “Party in a Bag” kits are bags which contain necessary items to throw fun parties such as streamers, balloons, cake mix, and frosting. 

We wish to thank the Forest Glen Elementary 5^th Grade Ambassador’s club who made 15 kits, 1^st Presbyterian Church who made 25 kits, and Girl Scout Troop 51986 who made 8 kits.

If you would like to bless children with “Party in a Bag” kits for their birthday parties, please contact HSP at 630-221-8340 or email hsp@humanitarianservice.org.

Just in Time for Valentine’s Day: Divine Savior’s “Boxes of Love”

Today, HSP has a lot of love for our friends at Divine Savior Parish in Downers Grove, as they donated 133 “boxes of love” for the low-income seniors in our Senior Citizen Project. These wonderful boxes are full of a number of necessities as well as items to make life more comfortable for the seniors. Each box includes toilet paper, facial tissue, toothbrushes, tooth paste, lotion, shampoo, lip balm, tea, and hot chocolate. The boxes will be delivered along with the 100 lb. grocery package we provide for each senior during our monthly “delivery day” next week. Divine Savior has made a tradition of creating and donating these wonderful care kits for our seniors every February. We are very grateful for the love and care they continue to show to the deserving seniors in our program.

HSP Welcomes a New Intern

This week HSP welcomed a new member to our intern team, Zach Miller. Zach will be spending the next few months at HSP as our Accounting intern. Zach will be working side by side with HSP’s CFO/Co-founder, Floyd, on all of HSP’s accounting needs. Zach currently attends Elmhurst College, where he is studying accounting. Zach intends to pursue a career in the field once graduating, with plans to sit for the CPA exam. Zach says he is very excited to learn how to apply the skills he has been learning in his education in a non-profit setting. Please join us in welcoming Zach to HSP!

Countdown to Super Bowl Weekend: Sports Equipment Needed

And…touchdown!  Are you watching the big game this weekend?  No matter who you are rooting for, it’s going to be an exciting game you can’t miss. 

Coinciding with the game, HSP wants to take this time to talk about one of our most needed items for low-income children:  sports equipment.  HSP likes to include items such as footballs, basketballs, soccer balls, and baseball gloves to keep the 900+ children we serve active and healthy.  If you would like to donate such equipment to the needy children in our community, please contact HSP at 630-221-8340 or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org. 

Happy Super Bowl weekend!

Thank You, Kiwanis Club of Wheaton

Yesterday, HSP received a visit from James W. Smith the Chairman of the Citizenship Services Committee for the Kiwanis Club of Wheaton. James dropped off a generous donation from the club to help HSP provide nutritious groceries to the deserving seniors enrolled in our Senior Citizen Project. The Kiwanis Club of Wheaton has been a supporter of HSP for decades, contributing so much for sake of the seniors, children, and families in our communities who need assistance the most. The Kiwanis Club of Wheaton supports a number of local causes to enrich our communities. They raise these funds through two major events, their annual Pancake Breakfast in May, and their “Peanut Days” in late August/ early September. We at HSP wish to thank the Kiwanis Club of Wheaton for their enduring support!

Thank you to Wheaton Warrenville South Key Club & Wheaton Junior Woman’s Club!

A few days ago, Wheaton Warrenville South High School’s Key Club, with some help from the Wheaton Junior Woman’s Club, held a donation drive to collect paper products for the low income seniors we serve.  They dropped off an SUV filled with paper products from toilet paper, paper towels, to facial tissues.  Every month, each of the 133 seniors we serve receives 2 bags of paper goods, and we rely on donations such as this one to bless them with necessities.  Both Wheaton Warrenville South's Key Club and the Wheaton Junior Woman's Club have been long time supporters of HSP – we are so thankful for their generous hearts! 

Thank You to the Science of Spirituality Center

HSP would like to thank our friends at the Science of Spirituality Center for donating funds to purchase toys for the low-income children enrolled in our Children’s Birthday Project. On Friday afternoon of last week, members of the HSP team were able to go out and purchase some much needed items thanks to this donation, including sports equipment, dolls, games, and art/craft kits. Our friends at the Science of Spirituality also held a fundraiser to purchase non-perishable food items which we discussed in a post in late December of last year. We are very grateful for the support, and wish to thank them for this generous donation!