DuPage service groups provide happier birthdays for needy children

When the Wheaton Junior Woman's Club first donated $9,000 to a small humanitarian group that essentially operated out of the founder's garage in Wheaton, little did they know where it would lead.

But the Humanitarian Service Project in Carol Stream took that first donation and, combined with endowments and donations that followed, opened a 15,000-square-foot, $1.2 million building in 1996, just four years after the Wheaton Juniors started the fund drive.

The generosity of groups like that club keeps the service group going strong.

“Virtually everything that happens, happens through volunteer help,” said Paul Yambrovich, community outreach coordinator for the Humanitarian Service Project, who noted that the service group has just five people on staff. “This could not happen without the volunteers.”

Last month, the Wheaton Juniors visited the building they helped build for the first time as they took part in one of the service group's major projects. The Children's Birthday Project started in 1992 and collects toys and books to distribute to needy children in DuPage and Kane counties.

Each year, about 800 children receive 25-pound birthday boxes, which include the items as well as materials to use as birthday party favors.

But before the birthday boxes are sent out, volunteers sort through and pack the items, which are separated into age-specific packages.

Wheaton Juniors member Therese Antuna, who brought two of her daughters to help in the project, said she admires the work the Carol Stream group does.

“They are amazing,” she said. “They have helped so many families. They are so easy to work with.”

But the trip to the facility was not just a work day. Members of the Juniors were given the grand tour and, Antuna says, given a look at the effects of volunteering for the group.

“It was nice because the kids usually don't get much information about what an organization does for the community,” she said. “It's so emotional. You're providing for your children as best as you can and there are people out there who have nothing. You are helping to help them.”

As for the Humanitarian Service Project, Yambrovich said the future continues to look bright. By May 2012, he said, the group hopes to double the size of the 7,500-square-foot warehouse at the facility.

It's a far cry from the group's humble beginnings. In 1979, Karole and Floyd Kettering started the group and ran it out of the garage of their Wheaton home. In 1994, they converted a single-family home in West Chicago into a warehouselike structure and soon outgrew that. The current facility was built in 1996.

To donate time or money, call the Humanitarian Service Project at (630) 221-8340 or e-mail hsp@humanitarianservice.org. For information on the Wheaton Junior Woman's Club, call (630) 344-9790 or e-mail info@wheatonjrs.com.