Tim Dempsey provides Christmas meals for McHenry County families who might otherwise go without because, he says, it’s “impossible” not to.

Dempsey, 48, of Volo, is a married father of an 11-year-old son and works as a truancy officer for the McHenry County Regional Office of Education.

The job offers glimpses into the lives of thousands of children and families. Year-round, he sees children who are hungry and parents doing their best to provide for them, a situation that is magnified during the holidays, he said. Many parents have disclosed they can’t afford food for holiday meals, much less gifts for their children.

“Could you look in a kid’s face that is hungry and tell them no? You can’t do it. It is impossible,” Dempsey said. “I challenge anybody to look into a kid’s face who is hungry and say no.”

He also can’t ignore a parent who speaks of the struggle to feed their children.

Dempsey began providing holiday meals in 2021 after asking a student why he was stressed out. The student said his parents couldn’t afford to feed him or buy him Christmas gifts. Dad lost his job, and Mom was trying to help the best she could. Dempsey’s response: “I got you.”

And in that first year, with his own money, he shopped and filled grocery bags for five families with all the elements of a Christmas meal.

That number has grown each year since. Some of the families are homeless, living in motels, cars or in other people’s basements.

He has received help along the way from strangers, as well as assistance from his brothers at Wauconda Masonic Lodge 298, who donate money and help shop, pack and deliver the food.

His lodge brother, Scott Uglinica, donates some of the money he earns selling popcorn at festivals and other events.

Uglinica said Dempsey’s job as a truancy officer puts him in the unique position to see situations others wouldn’t. He sees children who are abused, neglected and hungry.

He sees students who “often just kind of fall through the cracks. They are thrown into bureaucracy, become a number. Every once in a while, you get that … truancy officer that sees beyond what is in front of them. Sometimes it is those people who take care of what needs to be done," Uglinica said.

Dempsey’s impact, Uglinica said, is hard to measure, but it’s a “huge deposit into the karma bank of the universe.”

The number of families Dempsey has helped continues to grow, Uglinica said. Some families do get back on their feet; there are always new ones.

Sometimes a family briefly finds itself in a bad spot, and that’s when Dempsey steps in. He provides “that helping hand to keep them from falling on the ground. They keep going, and he’s one of those people who say, ‘I got your back for a while,’” Uglinica said.

Last Christmas, Dempsey provided groceries for 134 families. For those living in motels who couldn’t cook, he bought 28 prepared meals from Meat & Potato in McHenry. Last year, he also provided 20 families with Thanksgiving meals.

As the need grows, including the number of homeless students, Dempsey does his best to help as many as he can. He’s also helped at other times of the year, when someone reaches out either for food or school supplies.

When Dempsey is asked for help, whatever it is, “I don’t say no. I say, ‘Let me work on it,’” he said. “I figure things out.”

Dempsey said poverty is a “massive” reason for truancy. As kids get older, they realize they’re poor, that they’re wearing the same clothes every day, and don’t have the right school supplies. They get embarrassed and depressed and don’t want to go to school.

Diana Hartmann, McHenry County’s regional superintendent of education, said the county has 400 students registered as homeless. But not all families who are without housing register as homeless, Hartmann and Dempsey both said.

Hartmann said what Dempsey does is “above and beyond the scope of his truancy role.”

The office also employs a part-time liaison who helps ensure that youth experiencing homelessness have immediate access to public education, including transportation and support services.

As a child growing up in a working-class family in Manchester, England, Dempsey recalled, sometimes meal portions were small. He often ate what he called a bread sandwich: two slices of bread with butter. His mother would say, “‘Fill up on bread,’ and it was easy to come by,” he said. He likens that to families today making macaroni and cheese and soup staples.

Yet, Dempsey said, he did not know his parents were struggling. Like many McHenry County parents in the same situation, his parents did their best not to let him and his two sisters know.

Area civic organizations, as well as the schools themselves, “do their best to help,” Dempsey said. But realistically, there is too much need and not enough resources. “We wish we could help everybody, but we can’t.”

His wife, Jaime Dempsey, tearfully said her husband “has a heart of gold,” and what he does in the community sets a positive example for their son.

“I couldn’t be more proud of him,” she said of her husband. “He would help anyone.”

But Tim Dempsey said many families are too proud and embarrassed to ask.

To those families, he says: “I want to help you. I don’t care if you are a proud parent. If you need help, give me a wink, give me a nod, write ‘yes’ on a piece of paper.”