On Christmas Day, St. Sabina Church turned holiday generosity into a full-on operation. Volunteers packed and loaded vans with 1,600 hot dinners, toys, and gift cards, then fanned out across Chicago’s South Side to drop them at shelters, veterans’ homes, and police stations. One of the stops was West Englewood’s Olive Branch Mission, where single mothers and their children were among those receiving deliveries. Dozens of church members, drivers, and local caterers spent the morning packing, sorting, and sending out box after box.
How the push worked
The church bought nearly 1,600 Christmas dinners from six local Black-owned caterers, then organized volunteers to deliver them to more than a dozen sites across the South Side, including shelters and veterans’ homes, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Each delivery box also carried toys and gift cards for families.
West Englewood shelter reaction
At Olive Branch Mission in West Englewood, staff tried to make the day feel less like a handout and more like a holiday. "Olive Branch tries to make it special for them, show them that people love them and do care about them," Donna Pearson-Simmons said. The drop-off there included single mothers and their children, according to ABC7 Chicago.
Menu, caterers, and volunteers
The meals themselves, described by caterer Nicole Jordan as roasted chicken, candied sweet potatoes, homemade cornbread stuffing, green beans, and a roll, came from six neighborhood businesses hired for the effort. St. Sabina picked up the tab for the dinners to support those caterers while also feeding people in need, according to ABC7 Chicago.
St. Sabina's year-round outreach
The Christmas deliveries fit into a broader outreach network at St. Sabina. The parish runs a social services center and a food pantry that serve the neighborhood, according to Saint Sabina. From its Auburn Gresham campus, the church coordinates volunteers, casework, and other support throughout the year.
Small businesses, big day
Organizers framed the Christmas push as both immediate relief and a way to keep dollars circulating with South Side businesses. Volunteers handled the packing and the driving, dispatching hundreds of boxes on Christmas morning. Local coverage highlighted how great the effort was and how many people it reached, according to CBS Chicago.
