Winter Coat Drive

We have recently received many donations of clothing including winter coats and furniture to help our many families in need. To date, we have welcomed over 40 families from Columbia. Most of these young families had to flee because of religious persecution and sex trafficking of children. We are currently asking for additional donations of children's winter coats since they are not used to Chicago falls and winters.

Weekly Update 10/30/2023: Due to the cost of living, we saw many families this week that are in need of rental assistance. Since our mission is to refer families to agencies to financially help them, it is very difficult to find an agency that has funds available. This is becoming a major crisis.

Thanks to our many donations of clothes and blankets, we were able to help those that are struggling in this cold weather. Still need donations of winter coats.

Weekly Update 11/6/2023: Comments from our best volunteer - Friday afternoon I dropped off a trailer of donated Furniture to a young family in West Chicago. The young couple cannot have been more appreciative of the furniture while he spoke some English. She spoke very little, but shared with me on a text message that she typed for me, saying thank you thank you now we don’t have to sleep on the floor anymore. they then introduce me to their two year old daughter, who also seemed somehow to be very appreciative of the help. This young family, who have just been here in the country for only a few weeks could not have been more gracious and kind, and I thought to myself how these are people that I would love to be neighbors in my neighborhood and be proud to have them As grateful as they were. Somehow, I left there, feeling more grateful than them.

Weekly Update 11/13/2023: We are excited to announce, due to an anonymous donor we will be hosting our first community- building light dinner for our new Columbian families. No better time to foster new friendships and "ring" in the Christmas season. We currently are helping over 40 young families who have moved to the area over the past year. A lot of the families expressed the need to meet others and learn how to acclimate to their new surroundings through sharing of successes and hardships. It is very hard for young parents to leave their families and live so far away, but for the safety of their own children, they took the risk. Anyone is invited to stop by on December 10 from 6-8 p.m. in the parish hall at St. Mary's in West Chicago.

Weekly Update 12/12/2023: On behalf of Shining Light and our clients, we want to express our gratitude to the Social Concerns committee and Resurrection parishioners for the wonderful, generous donations to our organization. Recently, we had a Christmas party for our Columbian refugees and distributed the Giving Tree gifts to them. Our volunteers and Shining Light's board of directors were so blessed to be a part of the enjoyment and gratitude these clients showed upon receipt of their gifts. We had over 80 attendees with roughly half being young children; to see the joy in their faces when they opened the gifts was priceless and something we will always cherish.  

This is just one of the many families that came back to say "Thank You"

"Thank you very much for everything. My children and I were very grateful for the gifts. God the Father bless you for helping and bringing help to so many families. Always very grateful blessings and prosperity for you. Instrument of God. How beautiful your service to God through the help you give to the community. A hug 🤗" Eliana