Suburban Access Outreach is making it easy for you to share blessings with others this Thanksgiving season as volunteers again aim to assemble packages for 1,000 families in the South Suburbs.
The Homewood-based organization, previously known as Open Access, has put out a call for donations.
Thousands of canned goods are collected by volunteer organizations and sent to Suburban Access where they are counted. According to Dodi Wans of Suburban Access, once the donation total is known, the agency will purchase what it needs to reach the 1,000 total.
Homewood businesses are collecting instant potatoes. Serving as drop-off sites this year are Art Corner Frames, 18703 Dixie Highway; Beyond the Book, 18063 Dixie Highway; Gaia’s Market & Refillery, 1948 Ridge Road; Loulou Belle, 2049 Ridge Road; and the Villager Gift Shop, 2007 Ridge Road. Spotlight Performance Academy will be collecting between 4 and 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays when singers practice at the Homewood Science Center, 18022 Dixie Highway.
Serendipity Yoga, 18300 Dixie Highway, is collecting boxes of cornbread mix.
Suburban Access has been buying turkeys from Walt’s Foods. Wans said the store’s new owners at Berkot’s Super Foods have agreed to work with the organization so that turkeys will be available.
The turkeys are the one thing in the Thanksgiving dinner that Suburban Access purchases. The agency is looking for $25 donations to help cover the cost of a turkey. Donations are being accepted at subacc.org/suburban-access-outreach.
“Everything we do for our outreach has to be paid for. We do not take any money,” from Suburban Access Outreach itself. The Homewood office has an annual golf outing that serves as the major fundraiser with smaller fundraising initiatives throughout the year.
While Suburban Access has about 150 clients on its list for Thanksgiving packages, the remaining care packages are distributed through organizations, Homewood School District 153 and Flossmoor District 161, as well as the city of Harvey and village of Phoenix, Wans said.
