With the Bears celebrating Salute to Service Week brought to you by Cigna this Sunday, the team will honor a local charity dedicated to bettering the lives of veterans as Week 10's Community All-Pro.
This week's recipient of a $100,000 grant will be the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans, an organization dedicated to eradicating homelessness of former service members in northeastern Illinois and the surrounding communities.
The organization is centered around the idea that no one who defended the country should go without a home.
"Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans answers the call to serve by expanding and adapting to the evolving needs of our veterans and their families, and continually pursuing best practices in service delivery," said executive director Christine Lewis. "We are committed to helping veteran households in crisis achieve the healthy, stable, independent lives they have earned through their service and sacrifice. Thanks to funding from the Monsters of the Midway, MSHV will be able to add a vehicle to transport and distribute basic necessary items from the Freedom Commissary to different destinations in the MSHV coverage area."
The Capt. Kevin C. Landeck Freedom Commissary is a free thrift store aimed at the clothing, household and basic needs of low-income veterans and their families. All items in the commissary, which serves 200 families each year, come through the generosity of donors. The commissary's namesake Landeck, a native of Wheaton, was killed in Baghdad in 2007.
The Community All-Pros Initiative is an opportunity for the team to show its gratitude to the community that has supported it since 1921. Ten grants will be awarded over the course of the season before every home game, totaling $1 million.
