Inspiration Kitchen & Cornerstone Community Outreach

On Friday, our entire group came together again to finish our week of service.  Our first stop was Inspiration Kitchen in Uptown.  We had an amazing lunch and toured the Inspiration Corporation offices, where they assist more than 3,000 individuals and families affected by homelessness and poverty each year.  Inspiration Corporation provides food service training, employment services, housing services, case management, counseling, and restaurant-style meals to homeless or poor men, women, and families in a therapeutic community that promotes dignity and respect.  To learn more about Inspiration Kitchens, visit http://www.inspirationkitchens.org.

While on the tour, students learned about the Inspiration Cafe, where volunteers serve meals and provide resources through a food pantry to participants in Inspiration Corporation's programs.  The participants are all working on stability by increasing income and/or becoming permanently and stably housed.

After our time at Inspiration, the students headed to Cornerstone Community Outreach, which has sheltered over 25,000 individuals since 1989.  Through their programs at Hannah House, Leland House, and Sylvia Center, CCO is able to shelter families with children, keeping them together as they work to achieve stable housing.  In addition, CCO feeds 100-150 people at their Dinner Guest Program, distributes 200 bags of food weekly, and meets the needs of residents who lack clothing and household items through their Free Store.   For more information about CCO, visit http://www.ccolife.org.

At the Free Store, students worked sorting donations to be included on the racks for "shoppers" who come through looking for clothes for job interviews, special occasions, and to stay warm in winter.

Pacific Garden Mission

Pacific Garden Mission is the oldest, continuously-operating, Gospel rescue mission in the country.  Founded in 1877 by Col. George Clark and his wife Sarah, Pacific Garden has moved several times but has remained true to its mission: homeless outreach, career development, counseling, Bible study, and providing meals 365 days a year to the hungry.  If you would like to learn more about Pacific Garden Mission, please visit http://pgm.org.

The students were given a tour of the facility and were shown the garden used for therapeutic purposes.

This room is where Bible school is taught.

There are plaques featuring all the graduates of the Bible school.

Today's meal was lentil soup and chicken or steak.

Fernando did an outstanding job slicing the deli meat!

This is the women's dorm where guests stay overnight. The beds are first come, first served.

Pacific Garden Mission makes an effort to help the homeless feel welcome by decorating the halls with actual Chicago street lights and benches.

Students pack lunches for the St. Ben's lunch ministry

On Thursday, a group of students packed 50 bag lunches to provide to the St. Benedict Parish sandwich program, which provides meals to the hungry in the community.  Each lunch included a sandwich, a piece of fruit, a bag of chips, a bottle of water, and a piece of Easter candy.

Visit to the Common Pantry

On Tuesday, one group of students visited the Common Pantry, Chicago's oldest continually-operating food pantry.  The Common Pantry (3744 N. Damen) has been providing individuals and families in need with food and personal care items since 1967.  Though the number of homeless clients that are served by the Common Pantry is small, the students learned about people in the neighborhood of St. Ben's who struggle with food security - meaning that all members in a household have consistent access to enough food for healthy, active lives.  The students toured the small facility where clients can "shop" using points for food and personal care items and learned more about what food security means and how they can help people who live right here in our neighborhood.
For more information about the Common Pantry, visit www.commonpantry.org.

Feed My Starving Children

Today we stopped by the Feed My Starving Children warehouse in Schaumburg, Illinois.  Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding God's children who are hungry in body and spirit.  Volunteers hand-pack meals specifically formulated for malnourished children.  FMSC ships the meals to distribution partners and have reached nearly 70 countries around the world.  For more information about Feed My Starving Children, visit http://www.fmsc.org/home.

The students each helped in packing "Mana Packs" consisting of vitamin powder, veggies, soy, and rice. Just one bag can feed a child for an entire day. Today's Mana Packs are to be shipped out to Uganda. The students did a fantastic job in their various roles!

A table of finished Mana Packs!

Boxes of food ready to be shipped!

Our group packed a total of 64 boxes! This is enough food for 13,824 total meals!!

These meals are enough to feed 38 children for an entire year!!

The breakdown of the expenses shows that it costs only $0.22 a meal to feed a child. A donation of $80 could feed a child for an entire year!

Visit to Franciscan House in Bucktown

On Tuesday, a group of students went to Franciscan Outreach in Bucktown to volunteer at their soup kitchen.  In addition to providing meals in the Marquard Center Kitchen, the staff at Franciscan Outreach provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, and case management (including substance abuse counseling, vocational training, and mental health care) to help guests work to build better lives.  For more information about Franciscan Outreach, visit https://www.franoutreach.org.

During our visit, approximately 90 clients were served dinner in the space.  Students set up trays, served food, visited with clients, and cleaned the dining room after dinner.

Students work to prepare dinner trays for clients at Franciscan House before the meal is served.

The students took a break before welcoming the guests to model their aprons and their smiles.

Fernando, Monica, Brittany, and Tony prepare the dinner trays to be served to the guests.

Family Shelter Service in Naperville, Illinois

Family Shelter Service was founded in 1976 by a group of individuals who wanted to help the growing number of people made homeless as a result of domestic abuse.  Services and programs offered through Family Shelter Service include counseling, court advocacy, support groups, children's programs, community education, and shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children.  For more information about Family Shelter Service, visit http://www.familyshelterservice.org.

On Tuesday, one of our groups visited the Second Chance Resale Shop in Naperville, where clients and their families can replenish their wardrobes and households with gently used items, free of charge.  The shops also create additional financial support for Family Shelter's mission to provide help and hope to victims of domestic violence in DuPage county. St. Ben's volunteers sorted donations from one of their big fundraisers held at McCormick Place, in which we sorted and priced various items such as shower caddies, pots and pans, and office supplies.

Some students even built shelves for these items to be displayed in the warehouse's second hand store.

Melody diligently worked on displaying many of the items, where she made makeshift shelving and was given the liberty to design the set-up. The directors were very pleased!