HSP Says Welcome Aboard to Two New Interns!

Today was another exciting day at the Humanitarian Service Project, as we had the pleasure of welcoming two bright, young individuals into our internship program. We would like to introduce you to Morgan Smith and Nicholas Smith, no relation, who have both joined HSP’s summer intern team. Morgan will be what is called a “general intern” here at HSP, assisting staff in a number of ways to help make things run smoothly here at our center, working on a myriad of projects. Nicholas joins us for a Grant Writing Internship, in which he will assist HSP by researching and applying for grants to allowing us to maintain our services and ideally bringing more needy seniors and children into our programs.

Morgan

Morgan is currently studying psychology with a minor in social work at Elmhurst College. She comes here to HSP as part of her goal to eventually become a social worker, looking to gain experience working to help provide for the needy people we serve. Morgan says she was drawn to HSP because of her love of serving others. She is a member of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity at school, and she also organizes service projects as the Service Chair for Elmhurst’s honors program. Morgan says she has always been personally motivated to help out those in need, and she is very glad her college experience has allowed her to be so active in service. When not doing school work or service, Morgan is a very avid reader, and is a big fan of Stephen King, as well as the books in the Harry Potter and Hunger Games series.

Nicholas

Nicholas comes to us having recently graduated from Elmhurst College in May, where he majored in English with a focus in writing. He says he was attracted to the position because he loved the idea of gaining professional writing experience and helping those in need at the same time. He is an active volunteer with DuPage PADS, and previously ran a homeless outreach program with a few friends when he lived in Michigan. Nicholas says his own personal belief in the importance of helping others is what motivates him to remain so active in service. Like Morgan, Nicholas is a literature lover. As a big fan of the classics, his favorite authors are Dostoyevsky and Ernest Hemingway.

We are all very excited to have Morgan and Nicholas starting here at HSP. Please join us in welcoming them to the team!

Farewell to our intern, Navneet, from Adler School of Professional Psychology

It was a bittersweet day at the Humanitarian Service Project. One of our interns had her final day with us today. It’s been a long journey for Navneet Kaur here at HSP. As you may remember she has been with us since the beginning of January and now that it is June, it was time for Navneet to part with HSP. Navneet, who was studying at Adler School of Professional Psychology, didn’t just spend her time completing her practicum and excel at her numerous projects with us, she became a close friend to many and it’s sad to see her leave. Although we wish Navneet could continue her admirable work here at HSP, it’s time for her to prepare for the move to California.

(Navneet celebrating her last day with HSP)
We will all truly miss Navneet, and the days at HSP will be different without her, but we know she will continue to do wonderful things in the Golden State. We wish her all the best and congratulate her on her upcoming wedding. Enjoy your beautiful day! We can’t wait to see all the gorgeous pictures!

Thank you St Alphonsus!

Today Humanitarian Service Project was happy to host four volunteers from St. Alphonsus Church in Lemont who spent over two hours in our warehouse helping us prepare for our Feed the Kids Distribution Day next week. The group spent their time building boxes to hold the fresh produce that we will be purchasing from Caputo’s for our June Distribution Day, as well as building boxes that will house non-perishable food for the July Distribution. With this group’s contribution to the groundwork laid by the other hard working volunteer groups we’ve had during the past few weeks, everything is falling into place to reach the 100 needy families in our Feed the Kids program with the food they so desperately need.

On top of getting our warehouse ship shape for Feed the Kids, the group also donated many wonderful items for the needy senior citizens in our Senior Citizen Project, which including items like new pillows, Depends, and other personal care items. We want to thank this group from St. Alphonsus for both this wonderful donation and all their hard work. If you too would like to help us reach either families or senior citizens in need, check out our website for more info: https://www.humanitarianservice.org/ or call us at, 630-221-8340.

A New Intern Joins the Team!

Last month, we introduced you to several new interns who will be spending their summer learning about work in the non-profit field, and helping HSP in our mission to feed and otherwise provide relief to families and senior citizens suffering trapped in poverty. Today, these interns, and HSP as a whole, were blessed with a new compatriot, Kate Borromeo. Kate, a student at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, joined our team today as a Project Management Intern. She will be coordinating with Tierney Hogan, our Senior Citizen Project Coordinator, to run the Meal of the Month Program for the needy seniors in our Senior Citizen Project. Please join us in welcoming Kate to our team.

Kate

Kate’s dual major, Biology and Science Technology and Society, may seem odd for an HSP intern, but Kate aspires to join Doctors Without Borders after she finishes school, so she felt serving the needy at HSP would be right up her alley. She says she is looking forward to her internship here, knowing it will be a good experience and a way for her to give back to the community. Kate is also involved in serving others through her volunteer work with World Relief, Habitat for Humanity, and a smaller organization she has become involved in through her parents called Mission East Asia National Support. Kate believes service must be in her blood, because her parents are also very active with a number of organizations, and she has always been passionate about helping those in need. Outside of school and service, Kate enjoys photography and spending time with her family and friends. We are very excited to have Kate as part of the HSP team.

Feed the Kids is on the Horizon

We at the Humanitarian Service Project wanted to take some time to update you on some of the more general happenings around HSP. With June here we are in full swing getting ready for our Feed the Kids Project. With our first monthly distribution day on the 13th, everyone at HSP, from staff, interns, to our wonderful volunteers, are busy preparing to reach each of the 100 needy families with 175 pounds of nutritious groceries. Of course, once the June distribution day is in the rear view mirror, we will be busy, albeit happily busy, preparing for our July and August distribution days as well.

Fresh produce for the families in our Feed the Kids Project from one of last year’s distribution days.

In the summer months of June, July, and August, subsidized lunch programs through schools that needy families rely on are not active. Our Feed the Kids Project was created in order to provide needy families with the nutritious food they need during this difficult period of the year. As you can probably guess, in order to accomplish our goal of ending hunger in the summertime for these 100 needy families, HSP has been supported by a number of wonderful volunteers and generous donors. We want to thank them for helping us make Feed the Kids possible. If you too would like to be involved in reaching out to these needy families through our Feed the Kids Project, please call us at 630-221-8340.

Thank You McDonald’s Corporation

Humanitarian Service Project would like to extend our deepest thanks to the McDonald’s Corporation for the donation of 50 amazing “Party-in-a-bag” kits for the needy children served by our children’s birthday project. Each kit was full of enough party supplies to throw a fantastic birthday party. Thanks to this awesome donation, fifty needy children will be having really fun and memorable birthdays.

Kris Roach and her daughter Claire, dropping off the “Party in a bag” kits, from McDonald’s Corporation.

The kits were dropped off at our center in Carol Stream by Kris Roach, Manager of Global Compensation at McDonald’s, and her daughter Claire. Alex Gordy, HSP’s Database Manager and Co-coordinator of the Children’s Birthday Project, was excited when he saw how many kits Kris and Claire were bringing. Kris said everyone at McDonald’s enjoyed getting the donation together so much that they are already planning their next donation. We are happy that they had fun creating and donating the kits, because we know that all the needy children who receive them will be overjoyed as well.

If you too are interested making a difference in the lives of the needy children in our Children’s Birthday Project, you can find out more ways to help by checking out our website at: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/index.html or by calling us at 630-221-8340. 

Help the Hungry on Hump Day

    We are blessed with the bountiful amount of food we see come through our warehouse every month, but with all this food, we need more help! Every month we ship 10,800 pounds of food for the 120 needy seniors we help in the Senior Citizen Project. In order to fulfill our mission of ending hunger for these seniors, HSP is forming a team of volunteers to join a few long serving friends of the project in sorting food on Wednesday mornings. We are calling out to members of the community interested in joining the fight against local hunger.

Food to sort and happy food sorters.

 With the help of the community, we will be able to achieve the fulfillment of sorting out all the foods and items that are donated: bread, frozen meats, and non-perishable food, paper products and personal care items. The heart of our organization is within the volunteers and those who give their time and generosity to keep our non-profit going. If you’re interested in coming out Wednesday morning to the HSP headquarters 

to offer your help, please call us at 630-221-8340 or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org.

Senior Delivery Day