Baskets of Love' make holidays easier for those in need
Elizabeth Kindgren doesn't have to think too hard to figure out who to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
As she has nearly every week for the past year, Lindgren picked up food Sunday from the St. Vincent DePaul food pantry at Christ the King Church in Lombard.
But this time, there was something different.
The delivery came in a large box and inside was a Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey and dinner rolls, as well as other food that will help feed Kindgren and her children for weeks. Her shipment was one of 500 "baskets of love" put together by the Bloomingdale-based Chicagoland Italian-American Charitable Organization.
"If there weren't people like that, there wouldn't be organizations like (the food pantry)," Kindgren said. "It's going to help a lot."
The baskets are part of the group's annual Thanksgiving event, which started about 15 years ago. Cavallo, who serves as the group's president, said it's important for members to combat the negative stereotypes TV shows and Hollywood movies have generated about Italian-Americans.
What began as 50 community members giving out turkeys turned into today's efforts to feed 500 families a year in Chicago and the suburbs.
Each year, more than 100 children pack the boxes at a Berwyn-based warehouse. It serves as a way, Cavallo said, to teach them that the stereotypes promoted in Hollywood are not necessarily true.
"We need to teach the kids, to show the kids the generosity of our ethnicity," Cavallo said. "Here they are doing this for 500 families they'll never meet. They're not getting anything in return. Nothing other than this charitable effort to help people who may be on hard times or going through unfortunate circumstances."
Members of the roughly 175-member organization include Buona Beef President Carlo Buonavolanto, State Rep. Franco Coladipietro and Carol Stream Village President Frank Saverino.
"This is just a small portion of what we do," Saverino said. "We like to do things for people. It's the greatest group of guys I've ever seen."
Throughout the year, the group holds fundraisers and distributes about $10,000 in scholarships to students from different ethnic backgrounds. But the group's main event is Thanksgiving.
For Kindgren, things have been rough since her husband died in 2007. She works for a local cleaning service but has trouble making ends meet. The sagging economy has been especially rough on her and she said this season would be tough on her children. But the food from the Italian-American group will help.
"The kids this holiday won't get much because I don't have much," she said. "That will hurt because when their dad was alive, they got anything they wanted. But this year, the kids are going to be so joyful."