Smith Crossing residents provide comfort (bags) to shelter

On November 17, anticipating the frosty cold and snow that would hit Chicagoland two weeks later, Smith Crossing residents stood in front of the nearly 60 winter “comfort bags” they had prepared for unhoused people in their area. Organized by Denise Wilkin (front row, second from right), the volunteers supplied warm hats and gloves, scarves and socks, a towel and toiletries and gender-specific toiletries — including a Christmas card from Smith Crossing — and packed them in newly hand-sewn bags for neighbors in need. The bags were then distributed through the Daybreak Center shelter run by Catholic Charities in Joliet.