Our mission begins by providing complete Thanksgiving dinners to local area families-in-need, while, at the same time, delivering a message of hope, knowing that their community cares about them. Since we believe that the secret to LIVING is GIVING, we also focus on the growth-of-the-giver, both young and old, hosting an annual assembly and delivery day which is often as impactful to our volunteers as it is to our recipients. Thanksgiving dinners are delivered to families residing in Streamwood, Hanover Park, Bartlett, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Carpentersville, Elgin, and South Elgin.

The Basket Brigade concept was inspired by Tony Robbins, who grew up in a struggling family, and experienced complete generosity when someone knocked on his door with a Thanksgiving basket full of food and forever changed his life. This simple gesture of giving turned into the Basket Brigade movement, that delivers these baskets of Thanksgiving dinners to over 2 million deserving people around the world annually.

Our vision is to grow our community of volunteers, so that the gift of giving can grow, and support struggling families each year at Thanksgiving with the vision that someday these families can pay it forward. Please join us as we begin this journey in our own communities of Streamwood, Hanover Park and Bartlett.

How can you get involved?

In any number of ways; you can donate time, money, energy, or all of the above.  The Thanksgiving Basket Brigade is a gathering of volunteers of all ages who will make and deliver food baskets for families in need, right here in our area.  Volunteers also can help with assembly and delivery of the Thanksgiving baskets to families. This can certainly be a humbling experience, and we encourage parents to use it as a teaching opportunity for their sons and daughters.

Watch Our Story about why the inspiration
behind our local chapter of the Basket Brigade

Tony Robbins Talks About The Origins
of the Basket Brigade movement

tony-video

google-adwords-logoThe Lorraine M. Walsh Memorial Foundation is a recipient of a Google Ad Grants award. The Google Ad Grants program supports registered nonprofit organizations that share Google’s philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts. Google Ad Grants is an in-kind advertising program that awards free online advertising to nonprofits via Google AdWords.

The Basket Brigade of Suburban Chicago is a division of The Lorraine M. Walsh Memorial Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity.
All donations are tax deductible. FEIN: 47-5225925.
You can download a copy of our Federal Tax Exemption Letter by clicking the here.