Schaumburg resident talks about volunteering,friendships

I volunteer for the Thursday night dinners at the Catholic Charities office in Des Plaines. We also hold dinners Tuesday nights.

We serve an average of 65-70 people each night. Many of those clients also leave with sack lunches or carryout meals for the next day, so we distribute more than 12,000 meals a year through this program.

Along with the Rev. Wayne Watts, an associate administrator at Catholic Charities, I started the dinner program in 2001 because we knew there was a need in the North and Northwest suburbs. There was then and there still is today.

In the beginning, it was my faith that was driving me. But then I met these good people, and they have become my friends. I have met single mothers who didn't have milk for their kids, but our program fed them.

I have met seniors whose real only meal that day came from us. I have met homeless men who live in the nearby forest preserves and are hungry and need to be fed. So, in addition to my faith, these people are friends and neighbors.

What inspires me is the people. I call them our guests. I have seen children who years later bring their children to dinner. It saddens me, but I am happy they know we're here for them.

Our guests care about each other as well. They pick up their neighbors who need rides or they bring meals to them when they cannot make it. Our guests inspire me.

We don't care what church you go to or don't go to. All that matters is that you have a need. The people we help are our neighbors.