Throughout the year, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI) receives assistance from generous friends to provide both necessities and special gifts for people served in LSSI programs. Following are some areas of ongoing need:

Spring/Summer

• Easter Baskets -- This annual spring campaign seeks Easter baskets for approximately 300 Head Start students. Congregations are invited to "adopt" one of the Head Start sites, so that the baskets collected are of equal size.
• Flowers -- Gift cards from nurseries (Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, Walmart, etc.) are needed to purchase flowers to spruce up some of LSSI's sites throughout Illinois.
• Cleaning Products -- Support spring cleaning efforts at LSSI sites by purchasing cleaning supplies or donating gift cards to purchase the supplies.

Fall

• Back-to-school supplies/health expo -- LSSI needs school supplies to fill approximately 500 backpacks for children served by LSSI programs, ranging from kindergarten through college. Many of the filled backpacks are distributed in August at the Back-to-School Expo for foster children.

Any Time of the Year

• Chicago Bus Passes Are Needed -- Many clients of LSSI’s Portage-Cragin Counseling Center on the northwest side of Chicago do not have enough money for transportation to get to their doctor or therapy appointments. To assist them, LSSI is looking for donations of bus passes, which can be purchased at any Walgreens or Jewel Food stores within the boundaries of Chicago. Cost of a one-day pass is $10.
• Hygiene Kits for Women Served by Prisoner and Family Ministry -- LSSI's Connections program offers Re-entry services to women who have been released from prison and have either recently returned to the Chicago area or been out of prison for a while and still need services to transition back to the community. Some of these women have no home to return to and live in shelters, which do not provide needed hygiene items.
• Home Products for Behavioral Health Services -- Residents of LSSI's Chicago group homes for people with mental health issues need home supplies, including blankets and linens, cleaning supplies, paper supplies (toilet paper, Kleenex and paper towels), dish cloths, detergent, laundry supplies (dryer sheets, detergent) and pantry staples (such as flour, sugar, etc.).

These needs change often and other LSSI program sites and wish lists will be added on this page.

For answers on specific needs, contact Cheryl Novas, Director of Institutional Research, at 847/390-1416 or Cheryl.Novas@LSSI.org.