As I was sitting at my desk trying to decide which topic to write about this month, I learned that Pope Francis had passed. I was deeply saddened by this announcement, but then reflected on all the people he had touched and influenced in his lifetime especially in his last 12 years as Pope. We should never underestimate how much one person can impact an individual or a whole community.
Besides Pope Francis, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi are just a few other individuals who had great passion and drive to make changes in our world. Each one of them had just one voice, but they used it to help others. Leeanne McGrath was one person who started out helping a woman in need secure a much-needed crib for her child. Soon others came to Leeanne asking for help. She founded Sharing Connections in Downers Grove and through SC was able to touch thousands of lives.
I first learned of Leeanne almost 25 years ago when my oldest daughter’s 7th grade Girl Scout troop went to her garage in Lisle to help sort and organize baby clothes and accessories. Now Sharing Connections distributes more than cribs and baby clothes. What Leeanne humbly started in her garage has grown into not just one warehouse of 4,700 sq. ft., but three sections of warehouse space and loading bays, now located at 5111 Chase Ave. in Downers Grove!
Sharing Connections’ VISION is “Tonight, everyone eats at a table and sleeps in a bed.” They provide furniture to families in need referred to them from churches, social service agencies, hospitals, and domestic abuse shelters. You may reserve a pickup time for your furniture donations at SharingConnections.org/donate. Please allow a week or two for pickups as SC relies on volunteer drivers and movers. Housewares, linens, towels, and clothing may be donated M-F. 9AM-3PM or Sat. 9AM-noon.
It is important to check the website for the list of items they do and do not accept. For example, Sharing Connections does not accept used mattresses, but The Chicago Furniture Bank in Chicago does. The CFB will be featured in a future column highlighting the three college men who grew their idea for helping others into the largest furniture bank in the state!
“I am only one but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something.”
—Edward Everett
