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Your neighborhood United Methodist Church.
668 Graceland Ave. Des Plaines, IL 60016
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847.827.5561
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Get to know First Church
OUR STORY
We are a small, 100% volunteer, charity dedicated to feeding homeless students in the Northwest Chicago area.
In October, 2025, we started Bessie's Express. We partner with church kitchens like Bessie's Table and our route-driver teams to deliver home-cooked meals to students like Maria and their families. Real food. Delivered to their door with dignity. No questions asked.
Twice a week, volunteers cook. Twice a week, drivers deliver. Hungry families eat.
Were you looking for Bessie's Table?
Bessie's Table is a sister ministry serving home-cooked dinners to visitors on Monday nights. All are welcome. Visit their page for more.
THE PROBLEM.
390 high school students across the northwest Chicago suburbs are homeless. Nearly 9,500 more qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. School meals end Friday at 2pm. By Sunday night, refrigerators are empty. By Monday morning, they go to class hungry.
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source: *Data: Illinois State Board of Education, 2025 Report Card.
We are 100% local. 100% volunteer.
THE SOLUTION: The Three-Legged Stool
Bessie's Express succeeds because three partners work together. Remove one leg, and the stool collapses.
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High school social workers know which families need help. They identify students and families who are struggling.
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Church kitchens provide the volunteer cooks who prepare meals. They donate their kitchens, their time, and their love. We cover the groceries.
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Bessie’s Express coordinates the entire operation and delivers every meal. We maintain the family roster, schedule volunteers, communicate with church kitchens and school social workers, and ensure consistent quality across every delivery night.
HOW IT WORKS
Kitchen crews start preparing and cooking early in the morning. The raw ingredients for today’s delivery meals are a combination of what we purchase and whatever donations come in from grocery stores and food pantries. Each meal is prepared with love – just like you’d enjoy at your family table. In the late afternoon, the drive teams arrive, pack the delivery bags, and load their cars. Each person, in each family, receives meals for two days, a family-style salad, a family-style desert, a cold lunch for the next day, and snacks.
Most of our families have some income—enough to cover a few meals each week, but not enough to feed their kids every night. The gap is real, and it's consistent.
OUR IMPACT
In October, 2025, when we started Bessie’s Express, we served 9 meals a week. By the Spring of 2026, it had grown to 135 meals every week.
In those six months, we delivered over 2,000 meals total. The students and families in our program no longer go hungry.
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The model is simple. Our solution is real. The wait list keeps growing.
MAKE CONTACT
HOW YOU CAN HELP
What we need is funding to buy food and expand our reach.
YOUR ONE-TIME GIFT
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$13 = two nights of dinner, a cold lunch for the next day, and healthy snacks for one person.
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$39 = feeds a family of three with two meals, lunch and snacks.
Whatever you can give puts food on a table. Any amount feeds a student who would otherwise go hungry.
SECURE OUR WORK WITH A MONTHLY GIFT PLEDGE
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$52 = Adopt a student or family member, feed them every month with delivered meals.
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$208/month feeds one family four nights a week, all year long. Set it once, and you'll know every week a student and family is eating because of you.
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Other amount. Every gift helps feed hungry kids.