Last year, Chuck Reiss stood before the congregation at St. James the Apostle Catholic Church in Glen Ellyn and said he had a 95-year-old among his fellow parishioners who contribute to the parish Christmas Basket program.
But after Mass, Reiss was quickly corrected by the energetic “95-year-old.”
Frances Lang quietly informed him that she was 98. And then she drove home.
Next Wednesday, Lang turns 99, and Reiss won’t forget it.
“God bless her,” Reiss said, recalling the incident last year.
For 47 years, Lang has participated in the church’s Christmas Basket program, buying food and gifts for Chicago families in need. Over the last two month she has made lists, driven to stores nearby to shop, wrapped gifts and packed them in four boxes that now sit in the kitchen, too heavy for her to lift.
“Well, what I’ve gotten back is a thousand times more than I’ve given,” she said. “I’m going to do this until I’m dead.”
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This year is the 50th that parishioners from St. James and St. Elizabeth Catholic Church on Chicago’s South Side have come together to deliver a little Christmas to those in need, said Reiss, who has voluntarily run the program for 27 years.
On Friday, about 30 St. James volunteers will load a donated semitrailer truck with more than 1,100 boxes like Lang’s that are destined for 140 Chicago families, most of them St. Elizabeth parishioners, but also others who live in the nearby neighborhood of 41st and State streets.
Then on Saturday, more St. James volunteers will caravan to the small parish and, with St. Elizabeth volunteers, unload the boxes.
Kristia Horton, a St. Elizabeth Elementary School alum, will be among those to welcome them. Her family has received the boxes for about 10 years, she said. And she has assisted with the program for about 15 years.
“The boxes mean everything to my family because I do work, but you know, I don’t always have a lot to do something for all of them,” said the single mother of three. “Everything they receive is a blessing. I always feel bad that I can’t do more. We are so grateful because these people (who give) don’t always have that much either.”
Activity begins in the fall when the St. Elizabeth coordinator, Stacy Tolar, makes a list of families in need. They remain anonymous, but ages and sizes are written on a card.
This year, 240 St. James parishioners picked a card with the intention of buying what the family would need for a good Christmas dinner, plus extra to get a good start on the New Year, and a gift for each family member.
“From my calculations, we are about to pass our 20,000th box on Saturday, but there’s a lot more to it than that,” Reiss said. “There’s a lot of relationship-building happening. I think both groups walk away with much more, including mutual respect.”
Both sides have seen some changes over the years.
This year, St. James parishioners will also give boxes to 76 DuPage County families through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Catholic Charities, Reiss said. He has seen an increase in local need, attributing it primarily to people moving from the city to the suburbs.
He said he also has more box recipients who listed a homeless shelter as their address this year.
And he is seeing a greater demand for the donated PCs that he refurbishes for the needy. Retired from data networking, Reiss has rebuilt more than 100 computers for families and St. Elizabeth School, and he finds that while people once asked only for food, some now request items to help them attend college.
Although the neighborhood is considered up-and-coming, there are still many high-need families who call it home, said Tolar, who added that she finds more grandparents raising their grandchildren in the area now.
“Little things that some people may take for granted like toothpaste and toiletries, people are extremely thankful for,” she said.
Lang, who has great-grandchildren, adopted a young family this year and shopped for a Barbie doll, a Lego set and a crockpot, besides groceries and clothes. She buys early to take advantage of sales, working until everything on her neatly written list is checked off.
“I don’t have a smartphone,” she said.
But she does have a car, and overwhelming spirit that appears to last beyond the holidays. And having just passed her driver’s exam — an accomplishment she joyfully gives herself a thumbs-up for — she intends to do more of this next year as she approaches 100.
Lang and many of the other participants from St. James try to keep their donations anonymous from their respective St. Elizabeth families. Lang includes a card with her boxes but doesn’t sign her name. Those who participate in the delivery are enthusiastically welcomed.
“When the people from St. James arrive here it is like meeting your long-lost relatives,” Horton said. “We have a good time, and we look forward to it every year.
“There’s always a need for help,” she said. “Coming from a struggling school and church, when the Catholic churches and schools get together, it lets us know that we are not alone.”