Kids Who Make A Difference: Aron Pobereskin

To say that Aron Pobereskin is the next Charlie Trotter or Grant Achatz isn’t making a prediction. It’s simply stating the ambitious goal that Aron has set for himself. “I want to be one of the top chefs of my generation in this country. I know that sounds egotistical, but it’s a personal challenge and […]

Kids Who Make A Difference: Damiana Andonova

Damiana Andonova came to the North Shore from a small town in Bulgaria when she was in second grade. Her parents immigrated five years earlier. “We had sheep and goats,” she recalls. “To make do was difficult.” Her experience as an immigrant has given Damiana a broad worldview and a strong desire to give back—a […]

Kids Who Make A Difference: Garrett Jones

Garrett Jones has his priorities in order. Family and school first, then basketball. “My mom always told me, ‘If you don’t have your academics straight, you won’t go where you want to go,’” he says. And he listened to his mother: He’s headed to University of New Hampshire this fall to major in history and […]

Kids Who Make A Difference: Mason Isaac

Like all kids, Mason Isaac loves presents, but the kind of gifts that get him jumping up and down aren’t little plastic toys or electronic gadgets. Mason gets excited by envelopes with donations to save the polar bears or build a school in Afghanistan. “I have plenty of toys,” he says. So since his second […]

Chicago Botanic Garden's Green Youth Farm

In the heat of summer, the Chicago Botanic Garden has students digging, weeding and exercising their green thumbs as part of the Green Youth Farm. The one-acre farm is located in the Greenbelt Forest Preserve off Green Bay Road in Waukegan. Youth from various Chicago public high schools come together every summer for hands-on experience […]

Get to Know Local Veterans: Morey Coleman

In honor of Memorial Day later this month, Make It Better is interviewing local veterans every week during May. This week, we feature Morey Coleman. At 28, Coleman was drafted in March of 1943 to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II. After training, he serviced tanks overseas in the 126th Armored Ordinance […]

Make It Better’s Associate Editor Guest Bartends for Charity on May 24

Eat, drink, and help fight Alzheimer’s at the same time! Liz Logan, Make It Better’s associate editor, will be guest bartending at Prairie Fire downtown on Tuesday, May 24, from 6 to 8 p.m. Her tips will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. This cause is close to Liz’s heart because her grandmother is suffering from Alzheimer’s, […]

Get to Know a Local Veteran: Charlie Austin

In honor of Memorial Day, we are interviewing local veterans every week during May. This week, we feature Staff Sergeant Charlie Austin. Austin was in U.S. Air Force for 3 years, and served in the Korean War for 22 months, starting when the war broke out in the summer of 1950. Originally from North Carolina, […]