HSP Feeds the Kids

Our July distribution day for Feed the Kids is well underway here at HSP! Until 6:00 tonight, the 100 impoverished families in the program will be coming to HSP to pick up over 200 pounds of food. This will include nine fresh vegetables, nine fresh fruits, bread, meat, and three large boxes of non-perishable food. Feed the Kids is designed to feed needy children during the summer months when they do not receive free or subsidized school lunches.

None of this would be possible without all of our wonderful volunteers! We would like to thank the four returning volunteers from Charter One (they also helped us during our June distribution day!), the two volunteers from Best Buy mobile, as well as many individual volunteers that helped us alleviate hunger for these families.  This morning we served the first 18 families within 40 minutes, a record here at HSP! We would also like to thank all the help that we received to help us prepare for today, whether through volunteering to help pack the food or the wonderful donations we received. If you are interested in Feed the Kids or any of our other projects, you can learn more at www.humanitarianservice.org. 

More Help to Serve the Children of HSP

Chicagoland area's Autotrader.com volunteers helping
 to sort through children's toys.

Since we have been arranging and sorting hundreds of pounds of food on behalf of the July distribution for Feed The Kids, we were excited to have 9 volunteers coming from the Chicagoland area Autotrader.com and 5 volunteers from the Young Men’s Service League (YMSL). Volunteers from YMSL included two boys and three mothers stemming from The Carol Stream Panther Chapter. The volunteers from the Autotrader.com were here devoting their time back in March. We are so grateful they have returned to continue working with HSP. Both groups have been helping to sort through and arrange our fresh produce for tomorrow, July    11^th’s Feed The Kids distribution. After the groups completed sorting through the produce, they began working on organizing something a little more childish, toys. 

The Carol Stream Panther Chapter of YMSL organizing
toys for a boy in HSP's CBP.

Our warehouse is constantly changing shape when it comes to moving lugs around, so these generous volunteers are continuing to gather, consolidate and box up toys. Many of the toys that are floating around the warehouse, today, will soon have a home with many of the children within HSP’s Children’s Birthday Project (CBP). It’s always a great day at HSP, especially when we have committed volunteers like the ones from Autotrader.com and YMSL. We want to give a big thank you to the wonderful volunteers from Autotrader.com and the Young Mens Service League. We couldn’t give all that we do without your hard work and your willingness to give back to the community! Thanks again to all of the volunteers from Autotrader.com and The Carol Stream Panther Chapter of the Young Men’s Service League! 

Thank You Mail ‘N Stuff!

Ordinarily, at Mail ‘N Stuff in Glen Ellyn, cardboard boxes get used to ship mail. However, Mail ‘N Stuff  has decided to put some of their cardboard boxes to a different use. Today, we were able to pick up 100 cardboard boxes that were generously donated by Mail ‘N Stuff to use for our Children’s Birthday Project (CBP).

The donation of 100 cardboard boxes from Mail ‘N Stuff. 

We would like to thank Mail ‘N Stuff for this wonderful donation and would like to thank Mark Herman for coordinating the donation on such short notice. Each of the 100 donated boxes has dimensions of 20 x 16 x 14 inches, which amounts to a pretty large box when it’s all put together.

Even though a pile of collapsed cardboard boxes doesn’t look like much, it is truly something special for the 900 children enrolled in our Children’s Birthday Project. On their birthdays, children in the CBP receive one of these boxes that is filled with toys and gifts such as 5-7 books, 4-8 larger toys games, stuffed animals, small toys, and a Party in a Bag, which contains all of the materials needed to throw a child’s birthday party, such as cake mix and frosting, candles, balloons, streamers, and various other party decorations, and party favors. When it’s all complete, the birthday box weighs an average of 20 pounds, which is no small gift. If you would like to help contribute to the Children’s Birthday Project or any of our other projects, please contact us at (630) 221-8340 or email us at hsp@humanitarianservice.org.

Birthday Boxes that each child in the Children’s Birthday Project receives. Eventually, the boxes donated by Mail ‘N Stuff will look like this!

More Fans: So Staying Cool is a Bit Easier for our Seniors

Although the heat index may be hitting 100 degrees, at the Humanitarian Service Project we are trying our best to keep our cool. HSP is continuing to serve its 120 seniors, and counting, by striving to meet our goals of maintaining their needs in all aspects of health. Not only do we believe nutritious foods and Secret Pal gifts help the seniors in various ways, during tough and hot times there are a few other concerns we have. Another way that we are serving the seniors within our Senior Citizen Project is by reaching out to them in order to find out whether they are indeed struggling to stay cool in these scorching temperatures.

(Loyal volunteer, Larry Erven, left, and staff member Alex Gordy, right, deliver fans to seniors.)
We have staff and interns contacting the seniors and asking if they would like a fan to be delivered from an HSP volunteer. As the temperatures remain around 100 degrees, any small change, such as a fan, could make a difference for a needy senior in the DuPage and Kane Counties. The summer months often leave many of the seniors in our program stuck inside during all hours of the day, and with many who go without air conditioning, a box fan is just a little contribution HSP is more than happy to make. Our steadfast volunteer, Larry Erven, and HSP staff member, Alex Gordy, delivered fans to seniors throughout DuPage County. Long time volunteer Judy Simon and her grandchildren Harrison and Eva took fans to 6 seniors in Wheaton and all the seniors were so happy to see them today. Thank you to our wonderful volunteers and Alex for the selfless deeds done today!

Onward to the July FTK D-Day!

Now that the sparklers have been used up and the smoke has cleared from the Fourth of July fireworks, we here at HSP are gearing up for yet another big Feed the Kids Distribution Day! With how smoothly things went last month for our June D-Day, we’re all so excited to roll up our sleeves, get to work, and have an even better D-Day than the last!

            This month, our FTK D-Day will be taking place next week on Wednesday, July 11^th. We have boxes upon boxes of delicious groceries sorted and packed in preparation for the 100 families who are enrolled in our Feed the Kids program. We are fortunate enough, yet again, to have a wonderful array of volunteers and staff members to make this busy day go off without a hitch. However, in order to ensure the continued success of the Feed the Kids program and Distribution Days in the future, we are always in need of the generous support and donations of the community, in the form of both food donations and monetary contributions. Providing aid to so many families in need would not be possible without the help of the people in the community, as the collection of food and execution of the project is a very elaborate process.

            There are a few specific items which HSP has a particular need for in order to accommodate to the hundreds of needy children and seniors which we serve. Some of these items include: Peanut butter, jelly, canned fruits, pasta, pasta sauce and main meals (hearty soups, chili, boxed rice meals, etc.) These items can be brought into our office at: 465 Randy Road Carol Stream, IL 60188. We know that with your kind support, our outreach will just continue to grow!

Girl Scouts to the Rescue for Birthday Parties

What’s a birthday without a party? Reflecting on our childhoods, the joyous moments of sweet naive thoughts surround those few times of the colorful decorations and scrumptious cakes that is our annual birthday party. While there are those fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to host a party, there are many needy children who are not as lucky. For this reason we’d like to thank the Girl Scouts Service Unit 406 (Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana) who donated 10 boxes of party supplies which included hats, party favors, plates, cake mix, napkins and frosting to help us change this unfortunate reality for the needy children in our Children’s Birthday Project.

The birthday party supplies donated by the Girl Scouts.

These abundant supplies will complete numerous Party-in-a-Bag kits which are included with the 20 pounds of presents to give an impoverished child’s birthday a special flare to make the celebration more memorable. We wish to give a warm thanks to the girls for allowing us to keep this wonderful component of our project ongoing and for aiding in creating warm memories for the trapped in poverty kids. There are currently 900 children in our Children’s Birthday Project whose families’ financial standings cause a struggle to fund a party. If you wish to help out like these fantastic Girl Scouts, please contact us at (630)221-8340. 

Thank You to our Volunteers at Ribfest!

Despite the heat, humidity and storms that raged on this weekend, HSP volunteers have been doing a fantastic job at Naperville’s annual Ribfest festival. Ribfest is an annual festival filled with barbecue sauce-filled food and fun that is run by the Naperville Exchange Club and is held at Naperville’s Knoch Park. All of the profits from the festival go charity, specifically to help prevent and eliminate child abuse and domestic violence. 

A total of 26 volunteers including HSP staff and numerous friends of the project signed up throughout the five day event. Ribfest volunteers from HSP served in many ways, starting on the afternoon of Saturday, June 30 at the gates selling and taking tickets of those entering Ribfest. On Sunday afternoon, volunteers worked at the gates and child ID booth as well as the beverage tent. Even though Sunday’s volunteers got a late start due to the afternoon storms, everyone still had fun. Even while this is being written, a few volunteers are working the beverage tent, and volunteers from HSP are also scheduled to work the beverage tent tomorrow afternoon and evening.

Because Ribfest donates funds to HSP based on the number of volunteers who sign up, we would like to thank all of the volunteers for participating on behalf of HSP.  Not only have these volunteers helped us, they have also aided various other children’s charities in the area so they can carry out their missions to help children in need.  

Founder and Executive Director Karole Kettering ( front center) and Database Administrator Alex Gordy (back center) work the beverage tent.