Thanksgiving has always been one of the biggest holidays in my family. When I was young we used to have upwards of 50 people. Friends and family celebrating life's abundance. But as I got older, I came to realize that Thanksgiving should give us all an opportunity to remember what really matters in our lives. That no matter what your personal circumstances may be, there are people in the world who are less fortunate and need help. So now that I have my own family, my wife and I try to teach our three boys that Thanksgiving really reminds us of our duty as human beings to help others.
And so every Thanksgiving we do something to give back, and to do it with a smile. In previous years we have done Feed My Starving Children where we have packed meals for those with food insecurity or delivered Thanksgiving meals to those who are alone or cannot travel. We see this new project as an exciting way to give back and hopefully to have that be a larger impact locally. By partnering with the Northern Illinois Food Bank - part of an organization that provides food and hope for more than half a million people each year - we hope that we can play a small part in making sure that no one goes hungry in Northern Illinois.