Wicker Park Frame Shop Collecting Book Bags, School Supplies This Month

Aug 12, 2023

The owners of Helendora Samuels Picture Framing are collecting the back-to-school supplies for kids on the West Side and across Chicago.

WICKER PARK — The owners of a Wicker Park frame shop are collecting school supplies to donate to kids across Chicago.

Helendora and Sylvester “Tommy” Samuels run Helendora Samuels Picture Framing, 1736 W. North Ave. The couple frequently hold donation drives around the holidays and throughout the year with their church and organization Stepping Out In Faith/I Am Austin.

Ahead of school starting up later this month, the Samuels are now seeking donated book bags and other school supplies. They’re asking donors to fill the bags with lined paper and notebooks, two-pocket folders, pencils and pens plus crayons and colored pencils.

Helendora Samuels said she’s hoping to collect 200 book bags between now and the end of the month. Many of them will be given out to kids on the West Side, and others will be delivered all over the city, she said.

Supplies can be dropped off between 1-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday at the frame shop. The Samuels will take donations through the end of August, they said.

This latest collection comes about five months after dozens of bags of toys and several donated bikes were stolen out of a storefront next to the couple’s Oak Park church, where they store leftover donations.

The Samuels are still rebuilding their inventory of toys, bicycles and other items ahead of the holiday season and said they would also accept holiday donations on top of school supplies.

For more details or questions, Helendora Samuels can be reached at 312-731-5569.

Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods.

Click here to support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.

Thanks for subscribing to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Click here to support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.

Watch our “On The Block” TV show on The U, CW26 and MeTV.

Listen to “It’s All Good: A Block Club Chicago Podcast”:

In a twist on the classic board game, players search for clues at various iconic locations to find the weapon, room and culprit involved in the murder of Mr. Boddy.

The Fly Honeys' “radical re-imagination of cabaret” symbolizes resilience and empowerment within Chicago’s queer community with a wide variety of different performers.

One design includes a new basketball court, while the other includes tennis and pickleball courts. Residents can weigh in online until Wednesday or at this weekend's farmers market.

In the past four-and-a-half years, the City of Chicago has fined local agencies, including the CHA and the Cook County Land Bank Authority, more than $750,000.