671 S. Lewis
Waukegan, IL 60085
Volunteer Coordinator: Laurel Wimpffen
Phone: (847) 782-4126

Ways to Get Involved in Lake County Region

Contact Laurel Wimpffen, Lake County Volunteer Coordinator, at (847) 782-4126
for more information on how you can make a difference!

Food Drives and Donations

One of the Catholic Charities primary ministries is running food pantries throughout the Chicagoland area. We depend on your generous food contributions of canned meat, dry goods, cereal, juice boxes, vegetables, and canned goods. Many community partners (schools, churches, businesses, etc.) in the area enjoy doing food drives or collecting items that children can relate to, such as peanut butter and jelly drives. Some groups have done events, such as penny wars or hosting an evening where soup is served and the admission charged is donated to Catholic Charities. Anyone in the community can participate in our Hunger Action initiatives by conducting food drives and collecting financial donations. Please contact Laurel to learn about how you can help turn hunger into hope with a drive in your community.

Food Pantry Volunteers

In Lake County, Catholic Charities operates two food pantries out of our Waukegan Office. Our Emergency Food Pantry – which provides food to struggling individuals, families, and seniors - needs volunteers to prepare the bags of food, sort donations received, and handle the actual distribution and tracking of the food. Volunteers are also being sought to interview clients and perform data entry. The second food pantry is our Care Cupboard, which provides for the special dietary needs of people with HIV/AIDS. You can help us help them to better nutrition.

Flexible hours and an opportunity to impact the hunger problem in your own Lake County community: what could be better? Our food pantries provide hundreds of thousands of meals per year and are operated by volunteer labor with big hearts.

Meals and Nutrition Programs

Wouldn't it be painful to be lonely most of the time? Many of our Meals-on-Wheels clients see but one live face per day, that of our volunteers. And many of them would be unable to live independently without home-delivered meals. Instant gratification awaits the volunteer driver. Volunteer as infrequently as once per month, or as often as daily during the lunch hour.

The Grayslake Senior Center serves meals on site to those who might otherwise be eating alone. Volunteer kitchen help allows them to do it at a cost affordable to those on limited fixed income. Step up and serve this underserved portion of our community.

One day each month, we provide suppers to those in need. We welcome those who would like to sponsor a supper and/or provide volunteers to serve the meal out of our office in Round Lake.

Children's Activities

Would you like to help moms in recovery keep their lives on track? If you have an hour on Wednesday or Thursday evening (6-7 PM), you could help watch their children at Samaritan House and SAFE Housing in a pleasant group setting while they attend classes designed to improve the quality of life for their families.

There are childcare opportunities available for our Budget Counseling and Family Self-Sufficiency Programs on an irregular basis on Saturdays throughout the year. It is a great chance to help families stabilize their lives.

This year we have kicked-off our Lake County Diaper Bank and we need your help to make it a success. You can help moms keep their babies in diapers by hosting a drive to collect diapers and funds. We will also need a volunteer throughout the month who can help keep inventory, distribute diapers to community partners, and provide support for staff on the project.

Maternity and Adoption Program

Catholic Charities' maternity and adoption programs provide support for women and others dealing with unplanned pregnancies. Clients receive social services and educational support in making a plan for the care of their baby. Options that are explored include parenting, relative placement, and making a plan for adoption. Volunteers are welcome to prepare baskets containing many of the items a newborn baby will need or could even host a baby shower to gather items for a young parent.

Samaritan House

Samaritan House provides emergency shelter to homeless women and children. If you could help staff the office on a weekday morning, by answering phones, filing and generally minding the store, you would be extending a welcome hand (days flexible). If you are handy around the house, Samaritan House also needs someone to spend a negotiable number of hours on fix-up projects in the aging facility.

Administration

If you are friendly and willing to answer phones, direct visitors and do light office work, you might like to work as a reception person at the Grayslake or Park Place Senior Center.

You can impact poverty in your own community by volunteering in a pleasant, friendly office setting. Data entry, filing, mass mailings, and more await the volunteer with basic clerical skills and if you are interested in a faster-paced environment, consider working at the reception desk for one four-hour day each week.

Special Events

A variety of special events are held throughout the year to provide vital funds to help Catholic Charities’ programs and services. We are looking for a team of volunteers that can help sell raffle tickets, assist with auctions, greet guests, and provide support with event registration.