Back to School with Glen and Friends!

AURORA, ELGIN & MAYWOOD

SEPTEMBER 3RD & 4TH, 2016

It’s been about a week since our back to school outreaches took place in Aurora, Elgin and Maywood and I am ecstatic to report that 160 families were reached and 449 youth were served with school supplies and meals.  A total of 1,372 individuals had an opportunity to visit our offices and meet our staff.  

Glen Lerner Gives Back would like to take this opportunity to thank The City of Aurora, The City of Elgin and The Village of Maywood for welcoming us with open arms. Our staff, alongside your local businesses, government, schools and citizens worked together for greater impact. These outreach events were truly a community effort! 

40 volunteers donated a total of 1,204 hours! 

In Aurora we met a single mom on the street who had not purchased her son's school supplies yet.  She wasn't sure how she was going to be able to do so with her current financial challenges. On that afternoon, her son became the first to be registered in Aurora.  She was so blessed that she took it upon herself to pass out over 400 flyers in her local neighborhood so that other families in need wouldn't miss out.  

Local organizations in Aurora also lent us a helping hand by distributing our flyers to their their constituents.  Thank You Triple Threat, Fox Valley Christian Action, The Salvation Army, Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry, St Augustine College, The Warehouse Church, Aurora Community Church, Aurora Hispanic Chamber, YMCA in Oswego and Naperville and the local businesses near our Aurora office.  As a direct result of your efforts, Glen Lerner Gives Back was able to reach 85 kids that needed the help. 

In Elgin we were overwhelmed by the support of groups such as the local school district, YWCA, The Centre, Elgin Harvest Market, the Downtown Elgin Association, The Elgin Chamber of Commerce, Fox Valley Christian Action, BMO Harris, Raices Boricua, The Salvation Army, Elgin City Church, Highland Christian Academy, New Life Covenant Church, Westminster Presbyterian Church, WRMN 1410 Elgin, Elgin Headstart, The Woman’s Crisis Center, Blue Box Café, The Elgin Hispanic Network.  Their promotional efforts yielded a total of 154 youth registered youth.

In Maywood we had a mom realize that there was a youth football game going on at the same time as our event, so she took it upon herself to make sure that 60 of these kids got registered.  This mom went above and beyond recruitment by also walking the youth from their game to our office so they could receive their school supplies. That effort alone was a huge undertaking.  We are grateful for her devotion and commitment to the local youth. 

Our office in Maywood also had the greatest amount of families in attendance.  Over 600 individuals stopped in during the three hour open house and 171 youth were served. Mayor Perkins of Maywood was also present to welcome the youth and their families. Not only did the mayor attend the event but she also put on some sanitation gloves and began serving the kids food and drinks! She was inspirational!

We are grateful to The Village of Maywood, the Maywood Park District, The Rotary Club, The Answer Inc, NuStatus Barber Shop, Relux Hair Studio, Nails by Toya, T & JJ’s Catering, Maywood Library, Nicole Gooden with Caldwell Banker, Auto Zone and Atlantis Shrimp House for your help in the promotion of this event. Tracy Goss, a community outreach volunteer with NuStatus in Maywood contributed an additional 49 school supply kits which made it possible for us to increase the number of youth served. Nicole Gooden from Caldwell Banker helped us with the assembly of the school supply kits and also volunteered at all three of our locations.

The following local businesses also contributed to our efforts: Beggars Pizza in Maywood provided food for our volunteers, T & JJ’s Catering supplied additional food for the event, Golden Eagle Hot Dog catering gave us a discount on  the equipment and truck used for Elgin and Aurora.  Samaj, owner of NuStatus and his team of barbers, provided 40 free haircuts, 3E events donated Balloon sculptures for our Maywood event, Highland Christian  Academy in Elgin printed our GLGB banner and also lent us chairs. Advance Physical Medicine provided 12 free massages during the Maywood event.

SPECIAL THANKS 

TO ALL OF OUR OUR SPONSORS!

Dr. Christopher Calarco, Dr. Jason Thompson, Dr. Rick Dale, Dr. Michael Selvitella, Dr. Igor Russo, Dr. Ryan Rosenthal and Glen Lerner Injury Attorneys

for your commitment to give back to local communities through financial support and volunteer time. 

COMMITTED TO GREATER IMPACT TOGETHER!