New Trier Invites Community To Pack Lunches For Homeless

From New Trier HS: Community members of all ages are invited to help New Trier High School and #HashtagLunchbag Chicago pack 1,500 bagged lunches for the homeless from 10 a.m.-noon on Saturday, May 12 at the school’s Northfield Campus.

#HashtagLunchbag is a service movement dedicated to empowering and inspiring people to reap the benefits of giving through the use of social media. Volunteers create bagged lunches, complete with personal messages, and use them to spread love and share their experiences to inspire others. HTLB will partner with New Trier for the second time in two months as part of the school’s Spring Service-Learning Initiative.

On April 3, the New Trier Sophomore Class paired with #HashtagLunchbag at the Winnetka Campus to successfully pack 3,000 lunches and hygiene kits to distribute to local shelters.

“In order to accomplish something of that magnitude it required the support of the entire New Trier community,” Sophomore Adviser Chair Ted Koulentes said. “Without the partnerships we were able to form with outside agencies and our parent volunteers, we would not have been able to have as large of an impact as we were able to have.”

The Northfield Service-Learning Committee hopes to achieve similar success at the HTLB event on May 12, and all community members are encouraged to participate by joining the movement at New Trier’s Northfield Campus Cafeteria, 7 North Happ Road. There is no age requirement to attend, and volunteers simply have to show up to participate.

At the event, there will be different stations to make sandwiches and notes for the bags. All the ingredients have been donated by New Trier student adviser rooms and other student-led fundraisers, said Julie Novak, New Trier Librarian and Service-Learning Committee member.

Along with packing lunches and writing positive messages, volunteers can also enjoy a live DJ and a fun, family-friendly environment while promoting hunger relief.

The relationship between New Trier and HTLB began in 2016, when students held a successful food drive and donated collected items to the movement. After students decorated lunch bags, brought them to a HTLB event in Chicago, and worked to fill each one with a hearty, healthy lunch to be delivered the same day to local shelters, the students were inspired to bring HTLB to New Trier.

“It’s great to see so many like-minded people from every part of Chicago come together to help those in need,” said Ebony Washington, HTLB event organizer. May 12 will mark the third HTLB event Washington has coordinated at New Trier High School.

For more information, visit www.hashtaglunchbag.org or email chicago@hashtaglunchbag.com.

Photo via New Trier Township High School District 203