CHICAGO – During the month of October, state Rep. Fran Hurley, D-Chicago, is asking local residents to donate supplies to the Ronald McDonald House to benefit families of children with cancer and other illnesses receiving care at Advocate Children’s Hospital.   

“The Ronald McDonald House is a wonderful charity that helps families coping with childhood illness and cancer feel as at home as possible while their child is in the hospital,” said Hurley. “Families can stay at our local Ronald McDonald House while their child is receiving care at Advocate Children’s Hospital, ensuring they are able to be close by, but still take care of themselves by making sure they have access to hot meals, laundry facilities and a place to sleep.”

During the month of October, Hurley is hosting a Wish List Donation Drive to collect supplies to benefit the Ronald McDonald House at Advocate Children’s Hospital. Donations of the following items are accepted: individually wrapped snacks, like cookies, chips and crackers; individually packaged cereal; K-Cups; individual portions of soup or macaroni and cheese; drawstring garbage bags; laundry detergent; cleaning supplies like Lysol wipes, Windex, Scrubbing Bubbles and toilet bowl cleaner; postage stamps and copy paper size 8.5×11. 

Donations can be dropped off Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Hurley’s district office, located at 10400 S. Western Ave. in Chicago.

“The Ronald McDonald House relies upon community donations to continue providing these important, comforting services to families in our area,” continued Hurley. “I encourage local families to donate supplies if they are able, as the Ronald McDonald House does great work in our community to help families in need.”

For more information, contact Hurley’s constituent service office at 773-445-8128 or RepFranHurley@gmail.com.

ALTON, Ill. – To help bring more attention to the issue during Diaper Need Awareness Week, state Rep. Monica Bristow, D-Alton, is joining fellow Metro East legislators in collecting diapers the week of Sept. 23 for donation to Soup-and-Share, a local organization serving families in need. 

“When we think about items to donate to help families in need, it can be easy to forget the need for clean diapers for infants and toddlers,” said Bristow. “In the United States, one in three families struggle to provide dry, clean diapers for their children.”

Over the summer, Bristow collected food and clothing in her office to help local families. She is now joining six other area legislators in helping collect diapers in observance of national Diaper Need Awareness week, Sept. 23-29. Residents are encouraged to drop off diapers for infants and young children at her constituent service office located at 102 W. 9th St., Suite 104 in Alton. The products collected will be donated to Soup-and-Share in Madison, IL to help launch their Diaper Bank for families across Madison County and the Metro East.

“I am proud to work with our legislators to help Soup-and-Share launch their Diaper Bank and to help support an organization that does so much great work for many families across our county,” said Bristow. “One of the strongest values that we all share is ensuring care for our infants and young children, and Soup-and-Share’s Diaper Bank will be working to help young families provide a basic need for their infants.”