In the spirit of Thanksgiving, members of our Ambassadors of Mercy board packed 120 meal kits for families connected to our Community Care and Friends First Mentoring programs. Following the volunteer event, the meal kits were delivered to 96 Community Care and Friends First families throughout the city the following day.

“It’s the essence of Thanksgiving to give back and help people enjoy family time together and appreciate each other,” said Rita McGovern, the Home’s director of affiliated constituencies. “The board really appreciated the opportunity to feel like they were helping in a tangible way. That was good for building camaraderie for the board and good for our staff.”

Each meal kit included items such as a turkey, ham, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cake mix, cranberry sauce, and green beans. The food, which was partially donated from Illinois grocery store chain Mariano’s, was kept fresh inside the kits with cold packs.

Tim Cimaglio, chairman of the Ambassadors of Mercy, spearheaded and supported the event. He purchased the boxes and arranged for them to be delivered and even showed up to the event with family and friends.

“He’s a powerhouse behind all this,” McGovern said. The Ambassadors of Mercy have adopted the Community Care program and have done volunteer opportunities to help their outreach in the past. They focus their work around Thanksgiving and Easter to take the burden off coworkers while also giving them something to rally around.

“It is to make sure they have a nutritious and happy Thanksgiving,” McGovern said. “It’s pretty simple, honestly.”

Terry Muldoon, an Ambassador board member, said that he looks forward to helping whenever he can. Muldoon first got involved with Mercy Home about 10 years ago when working at William Blair. He really appreciates every time the board meets throughout the year, but especially events like these.

“I enjoy seeing the board members and volunteers, getting to know them in a one-on-one setting as opposed to a meeting setting and also being around the kids,” Muldoon said.

Mercy Home also purchased 37 gift cards for Community Care members and families who are housing unstable or live too far away for a meal kit delivery. In total, Mercy Home helped to ensure that 133 families had a special Thanksgiving meal this year. Community Care also hosted a Thanksgiving lunch for housing unstable members on Monday.

We are thankful to our dedicated Ambassadors of Mercy board members who helped give our Community Care and Friends First families a wonderful Thanksgiving.