BEVERLY — Volunteers for the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls will be seeking donations at St. Patrick's Day parades throughout the city this month.
The Near West Side-based charity helps more than 600 young people every year. This includes operating a boys home in the West Loop, a girls home in Morgan Park and an after-care program in South Shore that helps former residents of the homes.
To fund these efforts, volunteers will seek donations from those along the route of the Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade on Saturday Downtown, the South Side Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday in Beverly and Morgan Park and the Northwest Side Irish Parade on Sunday in Norwood Park.
Volunteers will also be stationed throughout Downtown on St. Patrick's Day, which falls on March 17. Donors to the "March for Kids" campaign receive special shamrocks thanking them for their contributions.
Volunteers for the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, pictured here at the South Side Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade in Beverly, will be seeking donations at St. Patrick's Day parades throughout the city this month. [Supplied Photo]
Mercy Home raises nearly all of its operating funds through donations like those generated by its March for Kids effort, according to a press release from the charity.
Besides offering some children a safe place to live, Mercy Home also provides therapy to heal from trauma, and education to help them build independence. Nearly all of the children involved with Mercy Home have suffered from some sort of emotional, physical or sexual abuse.
“I see children who’ve endured terrible hardships in their young lives,” said the Rev. Scott Donahue, president of Mercy Home.
“Yet I’m always inspired by their resiliency and by the amazing things they can accomplish when they have the right care and encouragement — the kind that’s only possible because of generous people throughout the country who provide us with the tools Mercy Home needs to bring healing and hope to into the lives of these children,” Donahue said.
Donors can contribute directly to Mercy Home online at mercyhome.org.
