On Saturday, September 16, the Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative (PBCSI) hosted its first Donate-a-Day of the school year at Lydia Home Association, an organization dedicated to caring for children who are in Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) custody families to care for children. DePaul Law volunteers assisted with a variety of projects at the site, including cleaning out a nearby house that will become a home to some of the children and organizing classrooms in the larger facility. After lunch, volunteers also played basketball with some of the youth that currently live at Lydia Home.
“This Donate-a-Day was particularly unique to me,” stated Liz Toth (JD, Class of 2018). “Instead of volunteering our time and then hearing about the organization, Mr. C., the Food Services and Facilities Director, explained Lydia Home’s mission before we began cleaning and organizing. Although I do not think he did this intentionally, I believe this gave our work more meaning while it was being completed. We were all sticky, sweaty, and dirty, carrying out radiators and old furniture in the 85-degree weather, but the impact we made was astronomical. Volunteers put their own comfort aside, knowing that the work we were doing would have taken weeks, had we not been there. Additionally, playing basketball with the youth helped put a face to the exceptional work we did there.”