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.