The Honeycomb Project is Accepting Supplies for College-Bound Students

Teens and parents with The Honeycomb Project, a Chicago-based nonprofit that engages families in volunteer opportunities, are in the midst of their Summer Swarm supply drive. Items collected through the Summer Swarm will be available to incoming college freshman at UCAN’s annual Trunk Party on August 5, 2023 at UCAN in Chicago. Honeycomb’s donation drive helps offset rising college expenses by making school supplies, dorm room essentials, and personal care items available to college-bound youth from the city’s West Side.

The Collier family of Wicker Park and Boeke family in the South Loop are serving as Summer Swarm co-chairs, empowering nearly 50 volunteer families to engage their networks to collect donations. The public can support UCAN’s Trunk Party with donations of new backpacks, pens, bed sheets, towels, tissues, soap, and more.

Donations can be dropped off through July 29, 2023, at Chicago locations:

• The Honeycomb Project (1625 N. Kingsbury Ave., 9am – 5pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays)
• UCAN (3605 W. Fillmore St., 9am – 5pm, Monday through Friday; after-hours donations may be delivered to the residential building at 3640 W. Fillmore St.)

“My husband and I wanted to instill a commitment to community service in our three sons, and being able to volunteer as a family has achieved that while also creating many positive memories for us,” said Kristen Werries Collier. “The boys particularly enjoy the immersive service projects, such as Furnish Homes for Families, Manage a Love Fridge and the MLK Day of Service. And they’re finding the Summer Swarm gives them a rewarding opportunity to lead a large-scale project from start to finish.”

Kristen’s sons Holden (17) and Vaughn (16), students at Walter Payton College Prep High School, where they are both members of National Honor Society and National Latin Honor Society, balance their passion for volunteering with their love of soccer – and sometimes their interests blend together. The boys’ involvement with Honeycomb sparked their desire to create Kit Fit FC, a nonprofit that promotes an active lifestyle by equipping athletes with essential gear. Having collected donations of sneakers and cleats, the Collier boys drew upon their learnings from volunteering with Honeycomb to host an equipment giveaway recently to benefit their youth soccer club, Chicago Blues FC.

The Colliers’ Summer Swarm co-chairs, Stacey and Max (16) Boeke, are also longtime Honeycomb volunteers. Raised Catholic, Stacy has always valued civic action, and she and her husband Michael have nurtured this interest in their children from a young age.

As a lacrosse player, tutor and exceptional student (he has a 4.7 GPA at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School), Max makes time for additional extracurricular activities that truly matter to him.

“As a member of the Honeycomb Leadership Corp, and now a Summer Swarm co-chair, I see firsthand how important the volunteers are to not only Honeycomb, but also its partners,” said Max. “It feels good to get younger kids excited about community service and it’s particularly meaningful to help lead the supply drive with my mom.”

About The Honeycomb Project

For more than a decade, The Honeycomb Project has served as Chicago’s go-to organization for family volunteering. Honeycomb’s family-centered programs tackle global issues, such as food insecurity, housing, social justice and climate change, on a local level. Kids work and learn alongside their parents, preparing home-cooked meals at shelters, growing fresh vegetables at city farms, building nature trails along the Chicago River and more. For more information, visit thehoneycombproject.org.

About UCAN

UCAN strives to achieve UCAN’s vision that youth who suffer trauma can become our future leaders by building strong youth and families through compassionate healing, education, and empowerment. Founded 153 years ago as a Civil War orphanage, UCAN is one of Chicago’s oldest, yet most innovative, social service agencies. UCAN has grown into a multifaceted social service organization serving and impacting over 21,000 youth and families each year. We believe that our inspiring programs help to break cycles of violence and abuse while instilling a powerful sense of hope for the future. Learn more about UCAN at ucanchicago.org.