The Humanitarian Service Project (HSP) is a grassroots organization founded under the guiding principle of “people helping people in need.” Karole and Floyd Kettering started the project in 1979 in a spare room of their home. Karole’s wish was for local families to experience the joy of Christmas with a holiday meal and gifts for the children. She took it upon herself to call friends and family to donate food and toys to make her vision a reality. The Theosophical Society in Wheaton graciously donated the space needed to take on such an enormous task. On that Christmas day, 35 families celebrated the joy of the season with a delicious meal and parents watched their children open presents. The smile on the kids’ faces and the sense of happiness moms and dads experienced that first Christmas decades ago, still drives the purpose of the Christmas Offering Program to this day.