Community Corner
Seven Places To Volunteer This Holiday
Want to share the holiday spirit with someone who could use help?
1. Donate a coat or volunteer time to organize donated coats at St. Juliana's Coat Drive. St. Juliana's is the home parish of many Niles residents.
When: Accepting donated coats and jackets Saturday, December 10th & Sunday, December 11th; asking for volunteers to sort the donations on Monday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
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What: Please bring any coats or jackets you want to donate to the vestibule of the Church during the weekend Masses. The coats we collect will be given to “People Sharing”, a group of Chicago-based residents committed to supporting the needs of under-served communities. The coats will be distributed to one or more of the following centers: Marillac House, St. Leonard’s, Grace House, Pacific Garden Mission, Deborah’s Place and St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church.
The coats will need to be sorted and bagged for pickup. If you would be able to give us about an hour of your time to help, it would be greatly appreciated. If you are looking for something worthwhile to do for about an hour, please join us on Monday, De- cember 12th at 7:30 a.m. in Church.
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Where: St. Juliana, 7400 W. Touhy Ave., Chicago IL 60631. Parish office (773) 631-4127. Stjuliana.org.
2. Are you a nurse? St. Juliana Church needs volunteers to take blood pressure screenings on the first Sunday of the month after each Mass.
When: Ongoing.
What: Take people's blood pressure readings.
Where: St. Juliana, 7400 W. Touhy Ave., Chicago IL 60631. Parish office (773) 631-4127. Stjuliana.org.
3. Deliver holiday gifts, visit the elderly, wide variety of other volunteer opportunities.
When: Holiday season and ongoing.
Where: Park Ridge and Niles area. Contact the Center of Concern at (847) 823-0453.
What: Taking photos, doing public relations, office work, reassuring clients via phone, driving people to appointments, shopping or running errands, etc.
4. Make meals for families dealing with a family emergency.
When: Holiday season and ongoing.
Where: Niles area; deliver to the family. Contact (847) 966-8145; ask for Carol Zalinski.
What: The Elizabeth Ministry at St. John Brebeuf serves families who may have someone in the hospital, a newborn (or multiples), a death in the family or other family emergency. Volunteers prepare a meal to last the family a couple of days and bring it to their home. Zalinski also welcomes donations of a grocery store gift card, or cookies.
Zalinski says the ministry's core values are: to respect all life, cherish children, encourage families, enrich marriages and build community.
5. Sort food and stock a food pantry's shelves.
When: Holiday season and ongoing.
Where: Niles Township Food Pantry, 5500 W. Main St., Skokie. Send an email to nilesfood@ameritech.net with your name and available times you can volunteer.
What: The food pantry serves residents of Niles Township, which includes all or parts of Niles, Morton Grove, Skokie and Lincolnwood. Help them stock donated items on their shelves. Director Cynthia Carranza stresses there are volunteer opportunities for everyone, not just those who can lift boxes.
6. Organize and staff a "Christmas store" where low-income people can obtain Christmas gifts.
When: Sorting donations and setting up the Christmas store Dec. 14-17. Operating the store Saturday, Dec. 17 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Marillac House, 212 S. Francisco, Chicago. Contact Whitney Allen, (773) 584-3204.
What: Although Marillac House is on Chicago's West Side, it is one of the charities which Peter "Uncle Pete" Zonsius, Niles' volunteer extraordinaire, serves. See Patch's heartwarming profile of Uncle Pete . Marillac House has a fenced-in, free parking lot. The Christmas store will serve about 250 low-income families.
Donations of toys for the Christmas store, and food for the food pantry, are also welcomed.
7. Help the elderly and those those getting rehab.
Where: St. Benedict Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 6930 W. Touhy, Niles.
When: Holiday and ongoing.
What: Call the center at (847) 647-0003 to ask about volunteer opportunities.
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