As a recently minted retiree, I looked for local opportunities to give back, and found the Migrant Ministry of Oak Park. Its mission is essentially to keep new migrants warm by providing free clothes, blankets, and related items. The mission is fueled by a local volunteer force of individuals who gather at St. Edmund School in Oak Park who want to help.
The force, no surprise, is predominantly female and over 50. I am one of the few “guys,” along with a handful of younger migrant men from Venezuela and elsewhere in their 20s who also come to help with some of the heavier lifting. It’s clear they are eager to work.
Our task seems fairly simple: receive and sort a mountain of donations on Mondays for distribution on Tuesdays and Thursdays, week in and week out. It’s a bit of organized chaos, but somehow everyone pulls together to sort the goods, and everybody really enjoys being part of it. The clothes are sorted by size, age, and gender, and either sent to a donation “store” where migrants can “shop” or into labeled garbage bags to quickly replenish the store on the fly while it’s open. Old classrooms are repurposed as mini-stores for shoes, blankets, coats, clothes, and more. Toiletry basics, from toothbrushes to tampons, are also distributed. We also provide suitcases, backpacks, and car seats. In the end, it’s all about keeping people warm and safe. Not so easy in Chicago.
I can loosely relate to the immigrants’ drive to find a better life, albeit I am a few generations removed from that. My grandmother emigrated from Sicily in 1908, and grandfather in 1918. Same story: have nothing, want a better life in America. I think most of us have similar stories. And are living that better life they wanted for us.
I often help receive, move, and pre-sort incoming donations from the cars, vans, and trucks lined up in the alley on the Monday drop-off day. I am overwhelmed by the generosity of the donors, which range from those emptying out their closet with great-condition used clothes, or ordering new items online and shipping directly to the church. We have received boxes of brand new items, such as gloves, snow boots, underwear, diapers, blankets and more. One donation came in from Amazon, gift wrapped, with a gift note that said “Welcome to Oak Park. We hope this jacket keeps you warm.” And they signed their names.
Seems Oak Park lines our border with snow boots and not razor wire. I hope we can make them a little warmer in this cold Chicago winter.
Steve Metro
River Forest