Make a difference in families' lives with donations to District 54 Community Closet, Food Pantries

The District 54 Community Closet, located at Addams Junior High School, collects gently used shoes and clothing from members of our community and provides them free of charge to the families of our students in need. Coats, hats, mittens and other cold-weather clothing, particularly in children's sizes, are greatly needed at this time of year.

Families are identified by school social workers and given a voucher to visit the Closet, which is staffed by volunteers, up to two times a year. The District 54 Community Closet serves about 600 people each year on average.

You can help by:

--Sharing information about the Community Closet with your friends and family;

--Donating gently used, clean clothes, coats and shoes of all sizes (excluding undergarments);

--Donating new socks and underwear, or gift cards to purchase new socks and underwear;

--Volunteering to sort clothes or work on one of the days that the closet is open to families (one Saturday morning and two evenings each month during the school year). Please note that we do not allow children from our community to work in the Closet to protect the identities of the families who are selecting the clothes; and/or

--Hosting your own clothing drive at your school, church, etc. and donating the clothes to the Community Closet, already sorted by size, gender and season.

Donations can be dropped off at any District 54 school or office. Please label the boxes "Community Closet - Addams Junior High School." For more information, visit http://www.sd54.org/closet or contact Carol Smith at CarolSmith@sd54.org or at (847) 357-5029.

Food Pantries

District 54's Food Pantries, located at Mead Junior High School and Keller Junior High School, are open to families on an as-needed basis. Families struggling financially are invited by their school social workers to visit. All nonperishable donations for the District 54 Food Pantry can be sent to the following locations:

--Keller Junior High School, 820 Bode Road, Schaumburg, IL 60194 or

--Mead Junior High School, 1765 Biesterfield Road, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007.

District 54 schools host drives for the pantries throughout the school year. If your organization or business would like to host a food drive, please contact Assistant Superintendent Pete Hannigan at (847) 357-5032 or PeteHannigan@sd54.org.

Any and all donations will be accepted; visit http://www.sd54.org/resources/food-pantry for a list of the "Most Wanted Nonperishable Goods." Other products to donate include feminine products, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, facial tissue, paper towels, dish soap, laundry soap, other cleaning supplies, diapers (all sizes), baby food and baby wipes. Please make sure to check the expiration date before donating.