When it comes to outfitting needy families, PATH lends hand
When the temperature suddenly dropped in late November, social workers at Palatine High School noticed some teens arriving at school unprepared for the unseasonable chill - wearing T-shirts and jeans, and no jackets.
They knew where to turn - a local group called PATH, or Palatine Assisting Through Hope. PATH volunteers delivered an assortment of winter coats to the high school that very same day.
This grass-roots organization has been collecting winter outerwear for Palatine residents for nine years now. Their latest "Day of Giving" took place Friday at the Community Resource Center, formerly the Palatine Opportunity Center.
Nearly 350 families descended on the center to select outerwear - coats, snow pants, hats, gloves and boots for all ages - as well as clothing for infants through teens.
Prior to the Day of Giving, volunteers sorted through donations from local schools, the Palatine Police Department, St. Theresa School, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Palatine, Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Lake Villa, and clothing drives from three locations of Burlington Coat Factory stores.
During the actual event, volunteers came from Fremd and Carmel Catholic high schools, as well as St. Theresa and Prince of Peace churches.
Joy Latek of Palatine and a member of Prince of Peace in Palatine, signed up to help sort donations with her two young children, Kate and Carson.
"It was hard work," said Kate, 8, "but it was fun."
Ben Boler of Palatine, an eighth-grader from St. Theresa School, lifted bags of clothes into trucks, which would take donations to the Community Resource Center.
"It was so heartening to see so many clothes donated," his mother, Diane Boler, said, "especially as we approach winter."
A group of Palatine residents - Rich and Ramona Tyack, Andy Konopka and Debbie Rohrwasser - formed PATH in 2007, and they continue to advance its local mission. PATH has grown to serve students throughout Palatine Township Elementary District 15 and Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211, as well as their families.
"It's a collaborative effort," Rohrwasser says.
At the start of this school year, PATH established its Community Closet in the lower level of Sanborn Elementary School in Palatine. Its three expansive rooms are stacked with donations of clothes for infants through teens, as well as some adult clothes.
School social workers refer families to the closet, where once a week they may select from an assortment of gently used clothes and outerwear.
A District 15 social worker called PATH recently to thank the organization after one local family visited the Community Closet. The son came to see the social worker, beaming.
"He couldn't wait to show her his new shoes," Rohrwasser says. "He was so excited. It just lifted him up."
Tyack said PATH's growth has come purely by word-of-mouth. Palatine area families know of their clothing drives, which underscores the local need, right in their own community.
"I guess the need never ends," Tyack says. "But a lot of people in the area know about us and they want to step up. We've had a lot of growing pains over the years, but it's been rewarding."