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Beyond supplying nutritious food to the elderly and to children in need, the Humanitarian Service Project also nurtures the human connection. Services have expanded since its founding 31 years ago to include the Children’s Birthday Project. The day is made special for kids who receive a hand-selected array of new toys, stuffed animals, books and school supplies, accompanied by party items. “It remembers them on their birthday in a way that lets them know they’re special and that there’s love all around,” says founder Karole Kettering. “My mission has always been to alleviate the suffering that comes from poverty, by supporting those people that are in greatest need.”

Two children carry out a birthday box, part of the Children’s Birthday Project.  SUBMITTED PHOTOS

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A 4-year-old greenhouse business is growing opportunities for individuals with disabilities. “One of the areas we are looking for volunteers is as job coaches to work with our team members at the greenhouse and grounds,” says Laurie Staple, executive director of We Grow Dreams and a former special education teacher and administrator. A video on its Web site captures the inspiring project in West Chicago. Similar opportunities have just sprung up at Seguin Gardens & Gifts in Cicero, whose marketing director Julie Lerch says volunteers with gardening expertise are needed for the new, year-round enterprise.

Job skills for people with disabilities are nurtured at We Grow Dreams Greenhouse & Garden Center. SUBMITTED PHOTO

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A belief that wild animals who have been orphaned or injured deserve a second chance is what motivates the nonprofit Fox Valley Wildlife Center. “We have an open house coming up from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, (with) games, refreshments, presentations and tours,” says Kaitlin Zordan, education coordinator.

Caring for and tending to wild animals who have been orphaned or injured is a shared passion for volunteers with the nonprofit Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn. The center hopes the passion will spread to even more possible volunteers. “We have a very active program of volunteers,” says Chris Linnell, volunteer services coordinator. In the last fiscal year, 206 people volunteered more than 18,000 hours to the center, Linnell says. “They share an affinity with wildlife. They definitely want to help.”

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From tucking in a letter to a few simple necessities, you can pack a powerful morale boost for our service men and women. Doing your part is made easy by Operation: Caramel Corn, created by Dominique Martucci, owner of Naper Nuts & Sweets. Items dropped off at the shop are packaged with hundreds of bags of the candy treat.

WHOM IT HELPS
Every two weeks, shipments go to military people serving in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq. Martucci, who started the project after Sept. 11, remembers thinking: “I’m Italian; I’ve got to do something with food.” She welcomes names and addresses of service members for the project. To share good news from the home front, she includes a newsletter or letter of her own with each shipment.

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You can provide comfort and friendship to individuals facing the end of life and to their families by visiting patients or helping behind-the-scenes through area hospice organizations. “Most are in nursing homes, some are in their private homes,” says Nancy Stamas, a licensed professional counselor who serves as the volunteer coordinator for Heartland Hospice. “Our visiting volunteers do not do any personal care or any transporting. Depending on the condition and needs of the patient, a volunteer may be with a patient for a short period of time while a caregiver or family member can run some errands or get some rest. The goal ... is to bring the outside world to the patients and their family.”

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As the recession sweeps more families into homelessness, you can help by supporting the rescue efforts of shelters. They provide emergency housing and meals as well as a variety of support services, from computer training to preparing for job interviews.
“In these hard economic times, we’re seeing more folks coming in,” says Donna Bauer, volunteer coordinator at Lazarus House in St. Charles. “We’re under more stress to not add staff. We count on volunteers to help be a second set of hands, eyes and ears.”

A DuPage PADS temporary housing facility is shown at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wheaton. STAFF PHOTO BY STEVE BITTINGER

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You can help unite dogs and cats with loving families by lending a hand at the West Suburban Humane Society, a no-kill shelter whose complement of full cages contains companion animals eager for permanent homes.

WHOM IT HELPS
The shelter serves DuPage, Kane, Cook, Lake, Kendall and Will counties and parts of McHenry, completing more than 800 adoptions each year. Volunteers work with the animals to help socialize them, and professional training is available for special cases. “They get every chance possible,” says Patti Miller, volunteer coordinator.

Kelly Bailey of Woodridge volunteers at the West Suburban Humane Society. SUBMITTED PHOTO

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Get some fresh air and a little exercise while lending a hand to Mother Earth through activities simple to cerebral. The county forest preserve districts need your help and will tailor opportunities for individuals, families and groups. Projects range from picking up litter to restoring natural areas to ecological health.
 

A volunteer from Tellabs works on seed collecting at a native plant nursery. SUBMITTED PHOTOS

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Volunteer opportunities run the gamut at Aspire, which offers wide-ranging support and professional services for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families. The nonprofit has locations spanning the western suburbs, including group homes and a skilled care facility. The organization was created in 1960 by 10 families looking for a resource to help their children flourish.

Volunteers from TradeLink, a financial services firm, annually visit Aspire on Easter for spring planting. “They have done landscaping and put in a vegetable garden, both of which enrich the lives of those who live there,” says Julie Gies, volunteer and outreach coordinator. SUBMITTED PHOTO
 

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When you donate gently used furniture or your time and funds to the Sharing Connections Furniture Bank, you are coming to the aid of families in crisis. “We always need sofas, kitchen tables and chairs, dressers and beds, and mattresses and cribs,” says Executive Director Ann Wohlberg.
The organization began 26 years ago in the Lisle garage of founder Leeanne McGrath. “The first item was a baby crib that she bought at a garage sale because she wanted to make sure every baby was safely in a crib,” Wohlberg says.

More than 2,200 cribs have been among the furnishings given away by the Sharing Connections Furniture Bank.