Hello ladies!
You have been so helpful in the past and I have yet another question. I am looking for two things: 1) a place to donate new toys to children for the holidays and 2) somewhere to volunteer at in December on the weekends. I am due on Christmas, so the volunteer activities are a bit more limited. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
We donate toys and womens personal care items (lotion, shampoos, deodorats, etc.) to the Community Crisis Center in Elgin. They are a shelter for women and children in transition out of abusive situations. They are in DIRE need of thing since 75% of their state funding has been cut. if you are interested, their website is https://www.crisiscenter.org/AboutUs.htm
The Women's Center 5116 N Cicero needs both.
This might be right up your alley.
I have been a part of Mothers 4 Others since May. Do you want to do some good, have many choices in activities, and do activities that are child/family friendly. M4O is a wonderful group of ladies that are trying to expand throughout Chicagoland and suburbs.
http://site.mothers4others.org/
Check out their home page on Meetup.
http://www.meetup.com/Mothers4Others/
By the way- Meetup saved me from the Stay at Home Mom blues - thanks Mamasource mommies for suggesting Meetup!
You can also contact Catholic Charities of Chicago and they can help connect you with a place based on your availability and physical limits. A woman from my kids' former school went through them and they helped find something close by since she is in a wheelchair.
How exciting that your baby is coming at Christmas! Congratulations!
You can find some ideas here http://www.makeitbetter.net/. You can subscribe to the magazine for free. I just got the first issue last month and it has a lot of great information in it.
If you are on the west side, the Oak Park Food Pantry has a holiday food and gift basket program where you can buy for a family, if that's the type of thing you are interested in. http://www.oprffoodpantry.org/affiliations/holidayfood
We always donate toys to Hepzibah Children's Association in Oak Park. ( www.hepzibahhome.org) They provide a home for foster kids when there are no homes availble for them, and for children who have been removed from their own parents and have no relations to care for them. They're a really terrific organization. Also, the Ray Vanco Children's Foundation (www.rvchildrensfoundation.org) is great! It was began by a young man with a serious medical condition. When he recovered, he wanted to do something for other kids who were in the hospital over the holidays and he and his family started a toy drive. Now it has really grown and they distribute hundreds of toys to children in hospitals in the Chicago area.
If your baby is due at Christmas, don't overdo yourself! Congratulations on your Christmas baby (if he comes on time!) and best of luck!
I have found www.volunteermatch.org to be a good place to find the right volunteering opportunities based on your location and interest. Congratulations and best wishes!
You can donate new toys to the child life department at Children's Memorial. They distribute the toys to the children who are in the hospital for the holidays.
