Tinley Park students filling cupboard, closet for ‘family’

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Paige Harrison, a senior at Tinley Park High School, sorts through items that have been collected to help out members of their school community. | Larry Ruehl~Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 16, 2012 8:12AM

In the past, Tinley Park High School students and staff have put together care packages for troops overseas or collected food for nearby communities.

This year, Associate Principal Randy Couwenhoven asked the school community to help out others in the Titans’ family.

“One of the things I don’t know that we’ve ever really focused on is our own families here at Tinley Park High School who might have certain needs,” Couwenhoven said.

He sent a schoolwide email during winter break asking for nonperishable food items, toiletries and clothes. Now, a little more than a month into the second semester, what’s been collected for the “Titan Cupboard and Closet” can’t even fit in one room.

Couwenhoven said the entire school participated in the food and clothing drive, so much so that his biggest concern is finding room for all of the donations.

“We’ve actually told people to not bring any clothes anymore,” he said.

Tinley Park senior Paige Harrison has been working two or three days a week sorting through a mountain of donated clothes that fills the center of a room lined with everything from deodorant to canned spaghetti and baby food. Another four racks of clothing are stored in the school’s auditorium.

“It’s easy once you get the grasp of some of the things,” Harrison said of her sorting process.

Harrison volunteered to help organize the donations after a seasonal position at one of her two jobs ended. She takes less than a full day of classes because she is involved in Business Professionals of America.

“It’s just amazing how much stuff we can actually bring in,” Harrison said Tuesday as she sorted items.

Students and families who could benefit from the effort are invited to enjoy a pasta dinner and “shopping spree” from 3 to 5 p.m. March 11 at the school, 6111 W. 175th St. in Tinley Park.

Couwenhoven’s goal is to put together 100 bags of assorted food and toiletries for each family to collect at the door. They are free to pick out clothes as well.

“It starts with the Tinley Park High School community first, and then anything we have left over, we’ll donate to Together We Cope in Tinley Park,” Couwenhoven said, referring to a local social services agency.

He hopes the project benefits high school students and their families struggling in today’s economy, but the flood of support and donations already has proved the bond between Titans, he said.

“We have a pretty generous community,” Couwenhoven said. “People want to help, and people want to do their part.”