Volunteers at work

Last weekend at our Humanism at Work conference, attendees were invited to participate in two service projects: donating, sorting, and labeling books for Bernie's Book Bank (our Q2 2013 Education beneficiary), and assembling hygiene kits from donated travel-size toiletries for The Night Ministry (our current Challenge the Gap beneficiary). Our attendee-volunteers came through in spades with both donations and volunteered time.

Attendees prepared 715 donated books for Bernie's Book Bank. These books will be distributed to children in the greater Chicago area who otherwise have limited access to reading materials. Bernie's Book Bank delivers at least 12 books per year to each of the children it works with, and the organization has distributed more than 2.6 million books since 2009.

Volunteers prepared about 100 hygiene kits for The Night Ministry. These kits will be distributed by TNM staff and volunteers on their Health Outreach Bus, which visits six Chicago neighborhoods four nights a week and offers health care, a meal, and other assistance to those in need.