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VISITING
AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE
JANUARY
2011
CHICAGO
DS FOOD PANTRY DONATION
Forwarded
by Chicago
Donauschwaben
Traditionally, December is a month when the young members of the
Society of the Danube Swabians meet to practice singing German
Christmas carols and brush up on the folkdances that they will perform
at various functions throughout the upcoming year. This year, the
Society of the Danube Swabians invited Debra Walusiak, Executive
Director of the Des Plaines Food Pantry and Self-Help Closet to join
them for their annual Christmas party, held on December 10 at the
group’s facility at 625 Seegers Road, Des Plaines. Walusiak was
presented with a check in the amount of $3,000 at the get-together. In
addition to the monetary donation given to the Food Pantry, each child
and teen from the Society’s children and youth folkdance groups
brought non-perishable food items and wrapped gifts for families who
are experiencing a time of need this holiday season.
This is the seventh year that the Society of the Danube Swabians has
sent sizeable donations to the Des Plaines Food Pantry and Self-Help
Closet. Close to 700 pieces of non-perishable food was collected at
the Christmas party, along with a dozen family gifts and more than 81
wrapped presents that many of the children chose themselves to give to
boys and girls their own age who may not otherwise receive a gift this
holiday. The Board of Directors of the Society are very proud of its
children and teens, because they understand that many families are
having a difficult time putting food on the table this year.
Although the Christmas season brings in the greatest quantities of
food items, the Society of the Danube Swabians has large red bins set
out in its vestibule year-round to collect non-perishable food items
for the Des Plaines Food Pantry. Volunteers transport the donations to
the Food Pantry on a regular basis. The next push for the on-going
collection effort will happen in February. The Society has found that
non-perishable supplies at the Food Pantry fall to a very low level
during this month.
The Society of the Danube Swabians is principally organized for
charitable purposes. Being that the founding members of the Society
were poor German immigrants who had been given an opportunity to come
to the United States for a better life, it became the mission of the
Society to provide supervised program activities for the children,
youth, and senior citizens of the community, as well as reaching out
to the community at large. Children from the ages of 3 to 13 can
become members of the children’s folkdance group; young adults from
13 until 22 are able to join the youth folkdance group.
Written
by Maria Toth
Photos
by Eric Hauer
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Group Photo From left to right:
Very front (sitting): Victoria Appel, Sabine Welsch, Emelia Cling
Second Row (sitting): Stephanie Mayer, Danielle Mindikowski, Matthew
Mayer, Eva Rutterschmidt, Samantha Schnur, Kaitlin Warner,
Annaliese Welsch, Jaclyn Klemm, Julia Klemm, Lucas Conwell,
Kristof Giannoni, Amanda Schmidt, Anna Lang, Bella Mohapp,
Lucy Lussem, Gabriel Mohapp, Max Mohapp, Ellie Lindberg,
Allison Mindikowski, Grace Dickerson
Kneeling: Heidi Wenson, Christina Rutterschmidt, Kurt Angerer, Olivia
Kiefhaber, Veronica Giess, Louisa Giess, Jessica Meister,
Kira Zielinski, Stephanie Schmidt, Karina Thut, Michelle
Meister, Annika Lindberg, Sean Kaempfer, Giovanni Giannoni
Children
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Children
and members from the Society of the Danube Swabians pose
with Des Plaines Food Pantry Executive Director Debra
Walusiak (back row, 4th from right, holding envelope) after
having presented her with a $3,000 donation. |
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Veronica Giess, representing the
children’s group, presents a check to Debra Walusiak,
executive director of the Des Plaines Food Pantry and
Self-Help Closet. Looking on are (from left to right):
Elizabeth Hauer, youth group representative, and Eckhard
Blaumueller, president of the Society of the Danube Swabians. Credit
Lisa
Cisneros
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Donation table. Credit
Lisa
Cisneros
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