Make 'n' Take Crafts@ DuSable Museum

This weekend the CareTeam had a glorious weekend in the sun at the DuSable Museum of African American History' 35th Annual Arts & Crafts Fair. The CareTeam runs the Make 'n' Take Booth and we were supported by some wonderful DuSable Museum volunteers. This year's theme was music although great food and fellowship were also mainstays of the day.

We spent the afternoon making bean tambourines, jingle bell bookmarks and decorating music notes. There were stickers, markers and other goodies to decorate the back of a paper plate which was folded in half, stapled and filled with beans when the artwork was completed. There were some wonderful budding artists who returned several times to use up their creative juices!

The bookmarks had either a guitar or a microphone and we asked the students to color or draw their favorite singer or music artist. It was wonderful to see students choose themselves as their favorite singer! We asked each student who visited our booth to sign (or color) a music note to add to our bar clef.

Thanks to DuSable Musuem for letting the CareTeam spend a wonderful weekend with them working on crafts with local youth!

Travelling Food Circus

We have a record number of 50 patrons this week at Travelling Food Circus!

Because we had large donations from both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, we were able to ensure that everyone received TWO bags of healthful food. Some of the first patrons were even able to take home a bunch of flowers as well.

If you are interested in being a volunteer at Travelling Food Circus or any of our other CareTeam events, please check our website at http://careteam.mgrf.org/tfc.html

Kelvyn Park HS & Prosser HS @ Norwood Crossing

Today, I was lucky enough to spend the morning with the dynamic duo of Kelvyn Park HS and Prosser HS yet again. We went to Norwood Crossing, a senior housing facility that also supports independent seniors through a variety of services.

Because we had twenty kids, we were able to do a lot of impactful events in a combination of both direct and indirect service. Some students helped to organize the center's library sytem while others helped sort donations at the thirft store. A third group painted a chair for the regional network.

We were able to all come together for the second half of the morning to spend time with several seniors at a cook out! Not only were students able to prepare and serve food, but they were also able to spend some time with seniors from all over the Chicagoland area. It was great to see students and senior connecting through sports and holidays. The clowns that were also in the center and were quite entertaining!

Thanks to Bryan Manasse and Ryan Gauthier from Norwood Crossing for the wonderful morning!

Beyond the Job Description

My internship at the MGR Foundation has been nothing short of the unexpected. Given that the MGR Foundation believes in providing direct service to the community, I knew that I would be lucky enough to spend time outside of the office. However in addition to your standard internship duties: email, filing, event coordination, logistic management - I could have never guessed what additional 'Special Skills' I would come to acquire.

Not only have I painted banners for Peace Concerts (where I also served as event management security) and chairs at a Senior Network for the CareTeam. I have also become a veritable font of Chicago, Olympic and geographical trivia for our Dignity Diner. Much time was spent in the hunt for a portable bingo system, with great success! Other CareTeam events have included expertise in crafting coffee filter flowers at the DuSable Museum of African-American History' Family Day.

For another program, Team M3, I have colored arrows to guide runners on the Lake Front Running Path. Along with over 150 high schools students from nine CPS high schools and nearly 100 mentors, I have begun training for the Chicago Marathon. There really is nothing quite like seeing 150 students up, excited and motivated to run at 7AM on a Saturday morning.

Random shopping trips to the craft store have resulted in awesome activities for campers at Austin Town Hall through our partnership with Summer of Service and Leadership. Other SOSL activities include sorting shoes, sorting out bad bananas and playing dominos with some of the homeless community of northern Chicago. I taught the Virgina Reel to some Hope students so they could use it at a youth carnival. Two trips to the Community Food pantry at CCIL in Lawndale with two different high school groups. However, la pièce de résistance would have to be shovelling cornflakes into 2,688 eight ounce bags.

Sarah H. serves the MGR Foundation through an internship program with the DePaul University - Steans Center for Service Learning. She is currently serving the MGR Foundation full-time and we are incredibly thankful for her exceptional service and committment to our organization and the patrons we serve.

Foreman HS @ Chopin Park

Our youth are crafty! In addition to drawing an amazing hornet on their Summer of Service banner, students from Foreman High School also did an incredible job of engaging youth from Chopin Park Day Camp in conversation and a craft activity of creating butterflies.

After explaining and introducing the craft to students each Foreman HS youth was paired with a table of campers to engage and encourage them as they craft.

Foreman students did a great job of supporting campers with many smiles, 4th of July stories and artistry tips crossing the tables. Over two hours, Foreman students worked with eighty campers to make over 100 beautiful butterflies!

Thank you to Nicole Viverito and Chopin Park for inviting us to craft and serve at your day camp!

Prosser HS @ Travelling Food Circus

This morning I joined Sgt. Cowen, Jaimie and their wonderful smiling students for another service event. Travelling Food Circus the result of a partnership between the MGR Foundation, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and the City of Chicago Police Station 18. Each Monday healthy food is distributed to Chicago’s needy.

Our students spent the morning organizing the donation, providing coffee and treats to patrons and passing out bags of food. It was a super activity for students to engage in direct service. The students could see the effect of a bag of healthful food for a person and their family.

Thanks to Police Station 18 for the space, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods for the food, and Vensa & Martin from MGRF for all the help to make this event possible!

Hope HS @ Greater Chicago Food Depository

Continuing in Kennedy & DuSable's service, Hope High School was able to support the GCFD's operations the following day.

There were still plenty of cornflakes to be packaged and we were able to with other youth volunteers to get several additional pallets out the door and on their way to families in need.

Nearly 500,000 people each year rely on emergency and supplemental food provided by the Greater Chicago Food Depository and its member network of 600 food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters.

Serving at the GCFD prompted some great dialogue about hunger and resources in Chicago, the need for community-based non-profits, nutrition and certainly, what everyone had for breakfast and what makes you a 'breakfast person.'

Thank you to Maya Garcia-Warner & Greater Chicago Food Depository and also to Tony Escobar & Breakthrough Urban Ministries for providing us this great opportunity.

Prosser HS & Kelvyn Park HS @ Hines VA Center

Today I went to the Hines VA Center in Hines Illinois with ten students from Prosser Career Academy and ten students from Kelvyn Park High School. The twenty students spent time hanging out with veterans and passing out bags with toiletries. Not all of the veterans were in the hospital because of recent injuries, some served in World War Two, Korea and Vietnam was well as in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As some of our students are involved with JROTC at their high school, it was really valuable for them to spend time with others who have served in various branches of the military. It was great to see students become engaged in conversations with servicemen who had worked in fields they were also interested in, such as research in aerodynamics or becoming a helicopter pilot.

Some students were interested in which branches they served in and where and others were more interested in discussing sports. The veterans at Hines are not all necessarily from the greater Chicagoland area and there were some hearty baseball discussions. It was especially valuable to spend time with veterans right before the Fourth of July!

One of the most important changes I was able to observe was a change in the students from nervous and unsure to confident and curious. At first, they were uncertain what questions to ask and why these veterans might want someone to sit and talk to them for a few minutes. However, once they became to realize that not everyone had family close they became more interested in providing companionship and company.

One big thank you to all of our veterans for their service to us and to Kim at the Volunteer Services department for making this day a success!

Kelvyn Park HS @ Ronald McDonald House

YUM! Cheeseburger Casserole was on the menu at Comer Children's Hospital's Ronald McDonald House this Wednesday.


Students from Kelvyn Park HS put their culinary skills to the test chopping, dicing and mixing to put together a three course lunch for the families of children receiving treatment at Comer Children's Hospital.


While our casserole was cooking, Assistant House Manager, Cathy Berk, took us on a tour of the amazing house that accomidates 22 families with all the comforts of home. With 4 RM Homes here in Chicago and over 200 total around the world, she explained that many families need only to stay a couple of days but families could stay the course of treatment required with one family staying at their location for a full year.


Students were struck by the homes beauty but also the thoughtfulness of the designers, house managers and volunteers to create such a supportive environment with customized storage pantries, game rooms, business center, every kind of support to make families feel comfortable.

Thank you to Cathy Berk and Ronald McDonald House Comer Children's Hospital for allowing us the opportunity to serve!

Kennedy HS & DuSable Campus @ Greater Chicago Food Depository

Over 40 students from both Kennedy HS and the DuSable Campus served the greater Chicago community at the Greater Chicago Food Depository this afternoon. The GCFD is dedicated to ending hunger in Cook Country by providing both immediate assistance and education for community member and partner agencies. Through food pantries, soup kitchens and focused aid to needy neighborhoods, the GCFD is able to reach nearly half a million people a year.

Our students spent the afternoon working in the ‘clean room.’ This is an area of the warehouse were bulk items can be safely sorted into smaller sized bags. Our students sorted corn flakes into eight ounce bags. Different students were responsible for putting the cornflakes into bags, weighting the bags, then sealing them, next some students labeled the bags and finally a last group of student packed the bags into boxes.

Together our students made 2,688 bags of 8 oz cornflakes or 1446 pounds of food! Not only was this activity fun for the students, but we were able to see a massive volume of work completed!

Thanks to Maya Garcia Warner, the Volunteer Services Coordinator and the Greater Chicago Food Depository for allowing to spend the afternoon at the distrubtion center!

Michelle Clark @ CCIL

Take two at CCIL was another success! As the group from Clark HS was slightly larger, students were able to split into two groups. One group stayed in the Community Pantry and passed out bags to over 100 patrons. The rainy weather did not encourage patrons to wait in line, but rather they trickled in over the three hours.

Because there was less of a rush, students were able to spend more time talking to each patron and helping to provide them with healthful food. Two girls set aside a whole turkey and waited to give to a grandmother with two small granddaughters with her. It was powerful to see these students thinking about getting food to suit each patron’s needs.

Meanwhile, the other group of students went into the kitchen to help serve lunch to those who live at CCIL. The transitional housing facility is home to families, single men and single women. This particular batch of students as also involved in direct service as they were able to provide a healthy and tasty meal to residents.

Another round of thanks to Chris at CCIL for making this a wonderful event for another group of our students!