Muslims believe in serving the greater good, and at the Mecca Center, its Imam and Religious Director serves as a great example. The Mecca Center’s Imam and Religious Director, Sh. Hassan Aly, was recently appointed to the Hinsdale Community/Family Services (HCS) Board. As part of Aly’s longstanding commitment to community service, he has collaborated with HCS on a variety of projects and served alongside a group of dedicated their community leaders in the past three years.

Sh. Hassan Aly along with members of the Mecca Center also recently exchanged visits with Lewis University and the Catholic Theological Union (CTU). Then in mid late October, Aly was invited to speak at the second annual Glen Ellyn Prayer Breakfast. These opportunities to engage are part of Aly’s regular outreach efforts in building bonds and relationships with faith groups and institutions that serve the greater good.

HCS Family Services is a 501(c)(3) organization with a long history of helping neighbors in need in Hinsdale, Burr Ridge, Willowbrook, Darien, and surrounding communities. The organization was founded in 1937, near the end of the Great Depression, to help out-of-work neighbors secure necessities such as food and utilities. HCS operates two local food pantries: The Hinsdale Pantry (19 E. Chicago Avenue) is open three times/week and serves 100-120 families weekly. The pantry is a USDA TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program) site.

The school-based pantry opened in November 2016 at the Anne M. Jeans Elementary School in Willowbrook, IL. The pantry is open once each week and serves 40-60 families weekly.

A new, expanded pantry is under construction at Anne M. Jeans and will be opened in early 2018. HCS also distributes Emergency rental/utility assistance through the Salvation Army service extension program. DuPage County, IL has the second largest food insecure population in the State of Illinois (behind Cook County). The county’s annual food shortfall is estimated at $37MM. An estimated 1 in 6 children in Northern Illinois are food insecure. Importantly, hunger affects children’s intellectual, physical, and emotional development. HCS expects to serve more than 30,000 individuals this year (22,000 at our Hinsdale pantry and an additional 8,000-10,000 at our
Willowbrook pantry).

An estimated 84% of HCS guests live in DuPage County, IL. They live primarily in Hinsdale and the surrounding communities of Willowbrook, Westmont, Darien, Clarendon Hills, Downers Grove, Countryside and Burr Ridge. Based on self-reporting, our guests fall into the following HUD-defined income brackets: 82% extremely low income levels, 16% very low income levels, and 2% other low income levels.

The food is sourced from Northern Illinois Food Bank, The Direct Connect network of local grocery stores, food drives and donations from local organizations and individuals. HCS is fueled by a lean four-person staff, an active network of 500+ volunteers, grant funding, and generous corporate and individual donors. Learn more about HCS at www.hcsfamilyservices.org.