Day of Giving helps underserved in Palatine Township

A group of volunteers in Palatine have discovered new meaning in the Thanksgiving holiday: It's about giving.

They call themselves PATH or Palatine Assisting Through Hope, and on Saturday they held a "Day of Giving" at the Palatine Opportunity Center.

The center's mission is to reach out to the underserved residents in Palatine Township, through referrals and direct services from 14 agencies who come to the site. PATH volunteers knew to expect a lot of people. After weeks of collecting winter clothes and outwear -- by churches, businesses, schools and individuals -- and spending hours setting them out, they still braced themselves for the turnout.

And it was massive.

An hour before their doors opened, more than 100 people gathered in the lobby of the center.

Rich Tyack, of PATH, says the final count was nearly 1,500 people, or 370 families with children, who came through during the four-hour, free shopping spree.

"The biggest challenge was to keep the "shoppers" moving so we could circulate more people through," Tyack says. "We had people handing out kitchen size garbage bags for people to carry clothes in, and we calculated we gave out about 1,500 bags."

Several groups stepped up to help make the event even bigger. For starters, Mikes Bike Shop in Palatine dropped off 46 used adult and children's bicycles which were raffled off.

Palatine Township officials also donated food items from their pantry, which were handed out at the exit to families, though Tyack adds it was gone in the first hour.

Staff members from the Vista Health Center clinic, gave out 70 flu shots, while volunteer nurses monitored blood pressure.

Palatine Park District staff members helped to set up the tables and hanging racks in the four rooms where all of the clothing was stored, while the Palatine Police Department had collected winter coats.

Beyond the adult volunteers were the high school teens from Palatine and Fremd high schools, who did everything from set up to crowd control to stocking clothes. Both schools also contributed bags of clothes, collected by student council members.

At the end of the day, Tyack and his volunteers estimate they went through 80 percent of the 400 bags of clothing they had collected. The rest they distributed Monday at the Rand Grove apartments, located near the center, in Palatine.

Tyack concedes that he and his board members, including Andy Konopka, and Debbie Rohrwasser, both of Palatine, were stunned at the turnout, and by extension, the sheer need.

"It far exceeded what we expected," Tyack says, "but we were able to accommodate everyone. No one walked away empty-handed."

The group describes itself as a "grassroots organization" that came together to serve families in crisis at the Palatine Opportunity Center. Among their first families served were two who had lost everything in a fire.

Their network of supporters continues to grow, consequently, Kathy Millin, executive director of the Palatine Opportunity Center, knows she can turn to them for a desperate family situation.

"For an organization like ours, whose mission is to empower families through education and outreach," Millin says, "we just can't give them things like this."

Saturday's event was their second clothing drive, after holding a similar one, though only for children, last winter.

"We all agreed that this couldn't have been pulled off without the generous clothing donations, and the volunteers who stepped up on a long holiday weekend to giver their time to help others," Tyack said. "I think they all understand what Thanksgiving is all about."