People often think about charity in terms of the tangible, like donating old coats or collecting canned goods—but Metropolitan Services does much more than that, and you can be part of it at their holiday celebration on Dec. 4. But what about intangible needs, like counseling for a family with an out-of-control teen? “We have […]
The people served by Connections for the Homeless aren’t who you think they are. Yes, some are the hard-core homeless, those lost souls who are scarred by mental health issues, substance abuse and the street. For them, Connections provides a safe place to store vital documents, a shower, a warm meal—literally a connection to society […]
Children attending the Westfield Old Orchard Family Harvest Festival offered their Make It Better perspective through words and drawings. Here’s one special letter we received: When I was born, I was very sick. I had heart, lung and stomach problems, and people didn’t know if I would survive. Doctors did surgery on me, putting a […]
Amid the North Shore’s quaint coffee shops and swank country clubs, it’s a problem that’s often out of sight, out of mind. But not for the people behind Family Promise, a local non-profit aimed at offering support to homeless families in the region. “It is more common than anyone would ever think,” says Rebecca Lillian, […]
Inside a couple of cramped rooms of a former high school, accessed via a hidden, unsigned entrance then a maze of corridors, works a team that just might reinvent volunteer deployment. The Volunteer Center of Northwest Suburban Chicago has been channeling human resources to area nonprofits for more than 40 years. Its website at once […]
Pam Weston worked in the fitness industry for 30 years, founding Pam Phillips Fitness Limited and Spynergy Cycling Studio in Winnetka. She decided to sell her successful business several years ago, but wanted to remain involved in the fitness industry and give back in some way. Weston knew that the best time to instill healthy […]
On December 12, 2009, Chicago residents Mike and Mariann Stanton went to wake up their 4-year-old son, Danny. They found him blue in his bed. They performed CPR and dialed 911, but it was no use. Danny had died after suffering from a seizure in his sleep. The cause of Danny’s death was SUDEP, Sudden […]
Bill McGrane knows a good story when he sees one. After all, he’s spent the last five decades of his professional life telling them—first as a reporter for newspapers such as the Minneapolis Tribune, and later as a public relations writer for the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. “I’ve been writing all my life,” McGrane, […]
How Central School raised a bundle, how your charity can do it too All it takes is one volunteer with a good idea and a terrific cause to support. In the case of the most successful fundraiser in Central School history, that idea came from my co-chair, Linda Steen. She blurted it out over her […]
Rita Canning Chairman of the Board of Directors, Women In Need Growing Stronger (WINGS) Inverness “I never started off saying ‘I’m going to be a philanthropist,’ ” says Rita Canning, who is not only a philanthropist, but a very hands-on one. “Instead, I thought about what I wanted to do once my kids were grown. […]
