St. Charles boy celebrates 9th birthday by packing potatoes at Northern Illinois Food Bank

GENEVA – Joe Papa helped his daughter, Isobel, 9, slip on purple nitrile gloves as they prepared to work the evening shift Sept. 5 at the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva.

They joined a group of other children and adults who began packing potatoes into orange mesh bags to be distributed to the people in the 13 counties that the food bank serves.

But the father and daughter were not just random volunteers.

They were among the 40 guests of Sean Peterson for his ninth birthday party.

That’s all the St. Charles boy wanted: To help people who did not have enough to eat.

Instead of presents, his party guests were asked to bring food donations and be willing to work the 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. shift.

“He’s a nice boy,” Papa said of Sean. “He’s very friendly, very outgoing and a very good friend to my daughter.”

Sean’s mother, Kane County Associate Judge Lark Cowart, said her son’s invitation was open to whole families.

“When he started thinking about what to do for his birthday, he said, ‘I have a lot. I don’t really need anything,’ ” Cowart said.

Cowart and her husband, Kevin Peterson, brought pizzas from Charlie Fox’s to feed the crew before the shift.

At shift’s end, they ate the chocolate birthday cake that Cowart baked.

“For me, it was unbelievably uncharacteristic for a 9-year-old,” Peterson said of his son. “I was impressed, but also I wanted to make sure this is what he really wanted to do. I was like, ‘You can have a party at Chuck E. Cheese if you want.’ And he said no, he didn’t want that. So we checked in on him to make sure this is what he really wanted to do. He felt very strongly that this is what he wanted to do.”

Her son first encountered people who were homeless and hungry while visiting his uncle in Philadelphia in the spring, Cowart said.

“They had a real impact on him,” Cowart said. “Ever since then, he’s been very passionate about food insecurity. He used his allowance to buy a sandwich and a drink for one of the homeless people outside a Wawa store – it’s their version of a 7-Eleven. He asked the man what he would like to eat.”

Sean spent $14 for a turkey and swiss hoagy with lettuce, tomato and mayo and orange juice.

Sean earns his allowance by bringing in the garbage totes, setting and clearing the table, finishing his homework and practicing his violin and ukulele – and helps cook sometimes, his mother said.

His specialty is quesadillas.

Sean attends Davis-Richmond in St. Charles, where they do a food drive every year, Cowart said.

“They [the food bank] came to kick off the food drive and explain what they do,” Cowart said. “He was really interested in the fact that it was an organization in his community that helps people who have issues of food insecurity.”

The best part of his birthday effort was the way so many different organizations came together.

“That’s what he was most excited about,” Cowart said.

Guests came from Cub Scouts and swimming and basketball teams. They came from Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles and seven schools, Cowart said.

Sean turned 9 on Aug. 29, making him old enough to volunteer at the food bank. You have to be at least 8 to work on the volunteer floor.

Sean’s sister, Meredith, 6, spent the shift in the break room with her dad because she was not old enough to be on the volunteer floor.

William Emslie, who brought his son, Ian, 9, a friend of Sean to the party, said he thought working a shift at the food bank was a great idea.

“I think it’s terrific. The kids will come, they will learn how to help out and how to give – even on his birthday, he’s giving something,” Emslie said. “I like the whole idea. I might even do it for Ian’s birthday.”

Madison Mayer, volunteer coordinator at the food bank, said they appreciated Sean’s spirit of generosity, especially for his birthday.

“Sean and his classmates demonstrate that advocacy has no age,” Mayer said in an email. “We appreciate their excitement to volunteer and empower neighbors experiencing food insecurity.”