๐ Smiles
Smiles are for Free is our community-focused project offering outreach in our Chicago communities.
Read below for information on our upcoming events, our upcoming annual Back-to-School event, and our Remembrance Ceremony.ย
The story behind the nameโฆ. Sofia regularly attended her big brothers’ basketball games at St. Helen School in Chicago and loved to help in the concession stand. During one game, on the concession standโs whiteboard menu, she added โSmiles are for free!โ We are frequently reminded of Sofiaโs joyful spirit and her belief that just a smile can do so much. It is with that spirit that we offer these outreach events.
Please contact us with any questions about these events.
Back-to-School Drive – August 28, 2021
In 2019 we served over 50 kiddos and families in our first back-to-school drive at Haas Park. Each child received their choice of backpack to fill with provided school supplies. Our friends at Hairitics Dye for your Beliefs were on hand to offer back-to-school haircuts, and Wendy’s served us ice cream.
The Pandemic derailed our 2020 drive a bit (gave backpacks directly to a local school!), so we are back in full-force in 2021!ย
๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ the community project of ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ ๐ is partnering with ๐ช๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฌ to hold our third ๐๐๐๐ค-๐ญ๐จ-๐๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ!โฃ
โฃFree backpacks and school supplies will be given to the first 300 children. The event will also feature free food, an ice cream truck, and live music! โฃ
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The Back-to-School Event is ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ก, from ๐๐-๐๐ฉ๐ฆ at ๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐ค, 2402 N. Washtenaw in Chicago. โฃ
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Your ๐ญ๐๐ฑ-๐๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง is accepted with love & appreciation via ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ๐จ or ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฉ๐๐ฅ.ย
I’m truly heartened by the return of this event and the expressions of kindness and generosity it imparts. I attended in 2019 and was humbled by the effort. Tremendous respect for this cause and the positive impact it will continue to have in the community. So glad it’s back in 2021.
Remembrance Ceremonyย
Honoring those we have lost is empowering and creates a space for healing. We gather as a community to both support one another and honor our loved ones at Sofiaโs Garden in Haas Park. This ceremony is family-friendly and children are encouraged to attend. The ways in which we remember and honor are so deeply important to our own healing.ย
In this annual ceremony, we gather as a community to honor those who have died. This community-based support helps create a space for healing and empowers us to share our grief because truly we can help one another carry its weight.ย
- In 2019, we wrote our loved oneโs names and messages on strips of cloth and placed them high in the garden treeโs branches where they remain visible today.ย
- In 2018, after a ritual of walking around the gardenโs small, beautiful path, attendees were invited to share names and stories of their loved ones as chose. We wrote messages on river rocks and buried them in the garden where they remain today.ย
I am an adult son who was a caregiver for both of my parents for approximately 15 years. I lost them both rather unexpectedly within 2 months of each other. It was an immense sense of loss because of the bond that is often created when a person is in the caregiver role. Although I had a difficult time adjusting to this dramatic change in my life, Sheri Khanโs Grief group was a great resource for information and some camaraderie at a very difficult time. The most helpful experience for me was attending the annual Remembrance Ceremony at Haas Park at Sofiaโs Garden in remembrance of her daughter. Everyone attending had experienced loss of some type and this Ceremony provided any opportunity to share that experience and find some sense of solace.
Sofia Khan Garden in Haas Park
Sofia’s Garden is located on the southwest corner of Chicago’s Haas Park in the Logan Square neighborhood. It was envisioned and created by Joe Henry, Haas Park longtime supervisor, and Haas Park Advisory Council leaders including Bridget Montgomery and Tony Porfirio.
Journalist Heidi Stevens wrote about the Garden in 2018 soon after the dedication ceremony. She writes, the Garden, “bears the name of a girl who used to play there, back when there was no soccer field. Back when a baseball diamond took up most of the play space and home plate sat in that same southwest corner, the one where purple coneflowers and blue lupine plants now grow.”
While the Garden is named for Sofia and originally created in her remembrance, we very much want this space to be for the Community! Truly, there is no person unimpacted by loss, and when we can learn about Grief, we learn to make space for it… and for healing.
We are in plans to expand the Garden…. Please reach out to help, and your tax-deductible donations are appreciated.