The Lake County Health Department is excited to announce its second annual Operation Dropbox, a donation drive dedicated to supporting more than 3,000 local veterans and their families, in collaboration with the McHenry County Department of Health.

Organizations, churches, libraries, and businesses in both Lake and McHenry counties are invited to participate as drop site locations for this important initiative.

During their first collaborative Operation Dropbox, Lake and McHenry counties together saw a record level of community support, with 132 organizations participating as drop site locations and 11,427 pounds of donations collected for Veterans Path to Hope.

“We saw tremendous success and enthusiasm throughout our community during our inaugural event last year,” Lake County Health Department Executive Director Chris Hoff said in a news release. “This is a great opportunity for our community to come together, support veterans across the region, and strengthen our ability to respond to emergencies before they occur.”

After the donation drive, both Lake and McHenry counties will hold state-mandated emergency preparedness exercises in June. The Lake County Medical Reserve Corps and the Lake County Health Department will conduct one exercise, while McHenry County Medical Reserve Corps volunteers and McHenry County Department of Health staff will hold a separate exercise. Both will use the collected donations to simulate the process of unloading and distributing medical countermeasures during an emergency,

Operation Dropbox is a multi-county initiative in which Medical Reserve Corps volunteers collect donations from drop sites and deliver them to Veterans Path to Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to providing housing, employment assistance, peer support, caregiver training and counseling to homeless veterans.

“Every day the employees at VPH see the result of Operation Dropbox in the relieved faces of the veterans in need and their families who visit the food pantry,” said Laura Franz, Executive Director of Veterans Path to Hope. “10-15 households on average are served each day by the food, household items, and pet supplies gathered via this partnership. We are so glad to be part of this ongoing exercise and truly appreciate the assistance we are able to provide as a result of it.”

Organizations interested in hosting a donation box or a one-day event can sign up at the Health Department’s Operation Dropbox webpage. All necessary materials, including donation boxes and signage, will be provided. The deadline to sign up is Friday, April 3, with supplies delivered between April 28 and April 30.

Lake County: For information or to become a Medical Reserve Corps volunteer, contact the Lake County Health Department at HLHealthEM@lakecountyil.gov or 847-377-8186.

McHenry County: For information or to become a Medical Reserve Corps volunteer, contact the MCDH at Community-Health@mchenrycountyil.gov or 815-334-4500.