Meet HSP's Newest Intern!

This week, HSP welcomed another new member to the team: Adrienne Bell. Adrienne is currently studying Media Management at Columbia College. She came to HSP for her first internship as a way to be involved in the community and also to connect to her past. As a child, she and her mother often participated in programs like HSP, helping out her grandmother and giving to others in the community. Through her internship with us, Adrienne hopes to gain more knowledge of HSP's programs as well as gain experience working in an office setting. At HSP, Adrienne will be assisting our Administrative Assistant Bridget, working with families we serve through the Children's Birthday Project and other programs. In her free time, Adrienne enjoys singing and spending time with her 1-year-old daughter Camille. Please help us all welcome Adrienne to our team!

Join HSP for the Human Race

Now is the time to register to represent HSP at the DuPage Human Race! The Human Race is a charity 5k run/2 mi fitness walk to benefit a number of charities that do great work in DuPage County. This will be the fourth year of the event, and also the fourth year HSP will be participating. 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 be held April 25^th at the The Espalande in Downers Grove. While the race is a still a few months away, there are only a few days left to register at the lowest price. Whether you have dreams of crossing that finish line in record time, or just like getting out and moving for a good cause, please consider joining HSP for this fun event.

To register for this event, click here (please list “Humanitarian Service Project” as the agency you’ll be representing): https://www.athletepath.com/dupage-human-race/2015-04-25

For more information, visit their website: http://dupagehumanrace.org/

Senior Wish List Items

Gifts donated to seniors in our Secret Pal program.

While HSP serves the seniors in the Senior Citizen Project with groceries, there are always additional needs that the seniors have. Living with low incomes, our seniors have little means of acquiring what they need to live comfortably.

We fulfill as many of these needs as possible for the seniors through “wish lists.” Our seniors call in to request items that they need, and we then send them that item if we receive it from a donor.

For our donors out there, or those of you considering donating in the future, here are some of the items most commonly requested by our seniors:

• Laundry detergent/dish soap
• Pots/pans
• Dishes/glasses
• Stamps
• Batteries (especially AA)
• Furniture (gently used)
• Appliances (gently used)
• Microwaves
• Blenders
• Toasters, etc.

So please keep these items in mind, and thank you for your continued support of HSP and our Senior Citizen Project!

Giant Steps and the Indian Lakes Hilton Volunteer Today

We at HSP are always incredibly grateful when a volunteer group chooses us and comes in to lend a hand.

Today, we felt truly blessed to have two groups come in on the same day. We had a group of six volunteers from the Hilton Chicago/Indian Lakes Resort who were here to help wrap birthday gifts for disadvantaged children. We are also thankful to have had both students and staff from Giant Steps come in to sort food for seniors in need.

The volunteers from the Hilton came from all departments of the resort. They do at least one service project a month, and said it is something that they really enjoy doing.

Giant Steps is a school in Lisle that provides educational, therapeutic and recreational programs for elementary, junior high and high school students with special needs. Students and faculty from Giant Steps regularly donate their time to assist with our Senior Citizen Project, and we were happy to have them here today.

If you are interested in coming in to volunteer by yourself or with a group, give us a call at (630) 221-8340. 

Volunteers from the School of Expressive Arts and Learning

Today HSP was grateful to have a group of 8 volunteers from the School of Expressive Arts and Learning (SEAL) in Lombard. They spent an hour and a half sorting food and paper products for the impoverished seniors enrolled in our Senior Citizen Project. Students and faculty at SEAL volunteer their time at HSP on a nearly monthly basis, and today was their first visit of 2015. Through their many visits, the volunteers from SEAL have contributed a great deal to the success of our Senior Citizen Project, which provides 100 lbs. of groceries to 125 needy seniors every month. We at HSP wish to thank SEAL for their ongoing support.

Helping Out at HSP

HSP was visited once again by our friends from Ms. Heggen’s class from Glenbard South High School. After helping us out almost every month last year, we are excited to welcome the students back for a whole new year of volunteering. They stopped by and gave an hour of their time helping us out in our warehouse where they sorted and inventoried bread.

The bread sorted today will be distributed to our 125 impoverished seniors. Their time here volunteering helps the students to learn real world vocational and community service experiences, lessons that are the central focus of the class. As always, we are so grateful for Ms. Heggen and her wonderful students who continue to help us make a difference in the lives of those we serve.

A New Intern Joins HSP

This week HSP was excited to welcome a new member to our intern team, Eric Placek. Eric is a graduate of the University of Illinois where he studied editorial journalism. Eric is joining HSP because of his interest in Public Relations. During his internship Eric will be contributing to HSP’s social media sites, performing outreach to local groups, and helping to spread the word about HSP and our programs. Eric says he was interested in joining HSP as an intern not just for the experience, but also for the opportunity to use his skills to help others. He spent much of his time in high school doing community service to help feed the hungry, and he looks to forward to continuing that work with HSP. Outside of work and service, Eric’s major passion is hockey, which he has played nearly his entire life. Please join us in welcoming Eric to HSP.