Small Western Springs Church Shares Great Warmth

It wasn’t a dark and stormy night, but it was a “horrible windy day, Mary Burke said, when she was rushing through the parking lot on her way to Morton Freshman Center in Cicero.

“I saw one of our students, Luis, walking toward the school building. He was wearing a light hoodie sweatshirt, certainly not appropriate when it was freezing outside,” Burke said. And she reacted like the mother of five she is. “Where is your coat?” she shouted.

The 14-year-old she described as serious and polite responded in matter-of-fact tone: “Oh, he said, “my dad is working outside today, so he’s wearing the coat.”

“I remember my reaction, something I still feel today when I recall his response,” she said. “It was haunting. It tore at me.”
Burke, a librarian at the freshman school, part of J. Sterling Morton High School District 201 in Cicero, knew she had to “do something.” Through her sister, she found a coat. Luis had it the next day.

Burke’s chase for warm coats began. She raided her children’s closets and through the teacher pipeline and emails to friends found perhaps 75 more good used coats for students, their siblings and parents.

But she hit pay dirt last fall when Cari Stables, a neighbor, approached her.

Stables’ church, All Saints Episcopal Church in Western Springs, was looking for a way to help people in need, people who have obstacles in their pathways to a better life.

Burke believed her students fit that description. The ethnic background of students in her freshman building of 1,250 students is 95 percent Hispanic. About 95 percent are entitled to free or reduced price lunches.

Yes, Burke told Stables, she knew just the project for All Saints. Its members could help collect warm coats, hats, scarves, and even boots for the Morton students and their families. The church’s 150 members, with help from neighbors, friends -- and stringers --, collected somewhere between 300 and 400, which Burke crammed into her car and took to the school.

This Sunday the team of Burke and Alll Saints Church did it again, sending off perhaps another 300 coats to the Great Room in the school. Distribution began Tuesday (Nov. 4). Parents came to select coats and other winter apparel for their families. There was no charge, no proof of financial need. Some coats were gently used; others still bore price tags from area stores.

Burke said “her” Cicero families are hard-working and “incredibly appreciative. They are rearing children who are respectful and amazing in their gratitude. The community is filled with people who have strong family ties. They share what they have with others, giving so much back beyond financial consideration.”