Five Charities Which Perform like Champs in the Oak Park and Chicago Area

"Life is tough all over" so the saying goes, especially this year. Desperation, homelessness and hunger are up and so are demands made on local charities like the following. Those of us who are blessed with self-sufficiency and a roof over our heads don't have much left over to donate but if I could give a million dollars to each of the following groups, I would.

Greater Chicago Food Depository
P. O. Box 6949, Chicago, IL 60680-6949
Phone: 773-247-FOOD
Website: Chicagosfoodbank.org

Thanks to this wonderful organization and those who support it, 90,000 hungry people get emergency food every week from food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters. Every 25 cents donated buys a nutritious enjoyable meal for a hungry person. There isn't space enough here to list all the things the Greater Chicago Food Depository does but they are champs not only at feeding the hungry but also preventing tons of good food from going to waste and supporting neighborhood food banks in their important work.

Hephzibah Children's Association
946 North Boulevard, Oak Park, IL 60301
Phone: 708-649-7100
Website: Hephzibahhome.org

Hephzibah began life as an orphanage founded in 1897 by Mary Wessels to provide shelter for two little boys. Over the years, that humble beginning proved to be the start of something big .... a wonderful organization whose mission is to provide both long and short term foster homes for either orphans or children whose families are unable to care for them. For many successful, thriving adults, Hephzibah and the loving protection, stability, structure and sense of good wholesome fun it provided constitute the only childhood home they feel nostalgic about. Today, Hephzibah also provides after school and day care, along with a summer camp for children who might have been alone during the day otherwise.

Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly, Chicago Chapter
355 North Ashland Avenue, Chicago, IL 60607-1019
Phone: 312-455-1000
Website: Littlebrotherschicago.org

Since 1959, the Chicago Chapter of the Little Brothers has been vested with the mission of providing attention, companionship, and protection for the area's elderly people and helping to foster goodwill and friendship in the celebration of life in all stages. They are a family for people who may have no other relatives. Volunteers deliver meals, small talk and reassurance to homebound seniors. They own two vacation homes which afford lucky elders a chance to enjoy getting away from it all to the country in safety during the summer months. The good things they do for vulnerable and sometimes lonely people are just too many to be counted here but really gain momentum during the holiday season when Thanksgiving and Christmas parties are hosted for the elderly, along with a Personalized Christmas Gift program and the assurance that they are not alone, as long as the Little Brothers are there.

The Salvation Army
5040 North Pulaski Road, Chicago, IL 60630-2788
Phone: 1-800-725-2769
Website: Salarmychicago.org

It would take an entire book to list all the things that The Salvation Army does for those who depend on it for a second chance or maybe just dinner and shelter for the night. America's favorite and most trusted friend in need spends 83 cents of every donated dollar to help people in trouble. The winter holiday season has traditionally been the major fund-raising drive for this organization but donations into the famous red kettles have been down, along with the economy. Lt. Colonel David Grindle, Divisional Commander, and the people his Army helps appreciate donations made by mail or by accessing the Army's website.

West Suburban P.A.D.S. (Public Action to Deliver Shelter)
Mailing Address: West Suburban PADS, P.O. Box 797, Oak Park, IL 60303
Office Location: West Suburban PADS, 1851 South Ninth Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153
Phone: (708) 338-1724 or (888) 338-1744
Website: Westsuburbanpads.org

This organization is dedicated to serving over 750 homeless men, women and children a year through one or more P.A.D.S. programs including Emergency Shelter, Supportive Services, Supportive Housing and Homelessness Prevention. West Suburban P.A.D.S. provides basic food and shelter, support services, case management, temporary housing for working families and single adults, permanent housing for the mental ill and the prevention of homelessness in Oak Park, Forest Park, River Forest, Bellwood, Berkeley, Berwyn, Broadview, Cicero, Elmwood Park, Forest View, Franklin Park, Hillside, Maywood, Melrose Park, Northlake, River Grove, Schiller Park, Stickney, Stone Park and Westchester.

Giving to these organizations is more than just charity, it is a good investment as well (to say nothing of tax deductible). The better life is for each person, the greater our society will be for all of us.