Thank you, Chicago Shinnyo-en!

Humanitarian Service Project was included on Sunday at the Chicago Shinnyo-en Temple’s volunteer fair.  This was a free, community-wide service event where both temple members and people from the community came together to do fun, hands-on projects and learn about the opportunities to get involved in the community that are available. Families participating  at the event had the opportunity to do many fun service activities including; decorate lunch bags, placemats, and grocery bags, tie fleece blankets, make playdough, write cards to hospitalized children, and put together “Party in a Bag” kits for the needy children in our Children’s Birthday Project.  This event was coordinated by Rev. Fumio Ishizaka of the temple, Ineko Tsuchida of the Shinnyo-en Foundation, Nan Peterson, a Shinnyo-en Senior Fellow and Jenny Friedman, Executive Director of Doing Good Together, a non-profit organization based in Minneapolis who helped the temple organize the event. 

This was the temple’s first community event and they chose HSP alongside the DuPage Senior Citizen Council, the Kenneth Young Center, WINGS, and Send Kids the World to be supported through this event.  HSP received 30 “Party in a Bag” donations that were created during this event. Kristin Maxwell, Assistant Director, was present at the event to help educate the community about what HSP does. HSP would like to thank Chicago Shinnyo-en Temple, along with Doing Good Together, for coordinating this event.  With the help of groups like this, needy children are able to celebrate their birthdays.

The “Party in a Bag” kits will go to 30 of the children served by HSP’s Children’s Birthday Project. All 900 needy children in the project receive a party in a bag, containing all the necessary items for a birthday party, as part of their 20-25 birthday boxes. The kits enable the child’s parents to through the child a memorable party they otherwise couldn’t afford. The kits contain, cake mix, frosting, paper plates, cups, streamers, balloons, and party favors. If you, too would like to help us reach needy children by donating these kits, you can learn more on our website: http://www.humanitarianservice.org/getinvolved/donations.html