Fundraisers
The Palatine Women’s Club will hold its annual charity luncheon and auction at 11 a.m. Nov. 11 in the Cotillion, 360 Creekside Drive, Palatine. The event will begin with a preview of items, a silent auction, a mystery bag sale and a raffle, followed by lunch and a live auction. A special-drawing ticket will be given to anyone who brings a non-perishable food or cash donation for the food pantry. A cash bar will be available. Tickets cost $30. No credit cards will be accepted. All proceeds will go to local charities. Send checks payable to the Palatine Women’s Club to: Palatine Women’s Club, P.O. Box 1822, Palatine, IL 60078-1822, attn: J. Jensen-auction. Visit www.palatine-womens-club.org.
The 25th annual Amicus Certus (True Friend) award dinner sponsored by Lutheran Social Services of Illinois’ Women’s Network will be held at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the Westin Chicago River North hotel, 320 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. The event raises funds for Steps to Life, a program empowering adolescent youths in foster care. This year’s recipients will be basketball coaches Bruce Weber of the University of Illinois and Homer Drew of Valparaiso University. Tickets for the black tie dinner are $275. Call 847-635-4656 or visit www.LSSI.org.
Sail Away on the S.S. Shelter, the 19th-annual charity ball to benefit Shelter Inc., will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 10 in the Hyatt Regency Woodfield, 1800 W. Golf Rd., Schaumburg. Tickets for the black-tie event cost $250 per person. Raffle tickets for a five-day grand-prize cruise, dinner cruise for two and architectural river cruise for two cost $10 each, three for $25 or 10 for $50. Winners need not be present. Reservations are due Nov. 3. Call 847-590-6188 or visit www.shelter-inc.org/charity(underscore)ball.htm.
The ninth annual Mardi Gras Mystery Gala to benefit the Renz Addiction Counseling Center will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 4 in the Elgin Community College Fox Valley University Business Center, 1700 Spartan Drive. A murder mystery theater group will perform during dinner. The Renz Center provides prevention, intervention and treatment of addictive behaviors associated with alcohol, drugs or gambling. Tickets cost $75, with a $50 discount for a table of eight. Call Deb Howe at 847-742-3545, ext. 236.
Homeward Bound, the annual dinner and auction to benefit the Anderson Animal Shelter in South Elgin, will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Nov. 11 in The Centre, 100 Symphony Way, Elgin. Tickets cost $75. Call 847-697-2880, ext. 33.
Donations
The Community Character Coalition of Elk Grove will hold a Pack the Pantry drive from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday outside both Walgreens locations, Wal-Mart, Food 4 Less and Jewel in Elk Grove Village. The coalition is asking for donations of personal-care items such as deodorant, toothpaste, mouthwash and shaving cream, because they cannot be purchased with food stamps.
Tod Curtis, owner of Ye Olde Towne Inn, 18 W. Busse Ave., Mt. Prospect, will donate 100 percent of the sales of his restaurant’s 6-inch pan cookie for the next 12 months to the United Relief Foundation, a Mt. Prospect not-for-profit organization, to assist Hurricane Katrina victims. Firefighters from the Buffalo Grove Fire Department will collect donations for United Relief Foundation at Buffalo Grove intersections from 7 to 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 to 7 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Call 847-345-2413 or visit www.UnitedReliefFoundation.com.
Nicholas Lydiksen, a Life Scout in Boy Scout Troop 161 in Arlington Heights, will collect non-perishable food and new and used clothing as part of his Eagle Scout project for the Home of the Sparrow, a non-profit organization that provides housing and support services for homeless women and their children. Donations may be left in plastic bags or boxes on front porches by 8 a.m. Saturday.
Donations of supplies to be shipped to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan may be dropped off at the Hanover Township clerk’s office, 250 S. Illinois Highway 59, Bartlett. Donations may include non-perishable food, personal-care products, over-the-counter medications, batteries, AT&T international phone cards, socks, CDs and DVDs, tablets of writing paper, pens, pencils and puzzle books, and resealable plastic bags. Monetary donations may be made out to Operation Support Our Troops/Hanover Township. Call 630-837-0301.
The Palatine food drive will be held through Nov. 17. More than 20 drop boxes are located throughout the Palatine area, including Wal-Mart, 1555 N. Rand Rd.; Palatine Library, 700 N. North Ct.; Entrees by You, 355 W. Northwest Highway; Lavelle Law, Ltd., 501 W. Colfax St.; Birchwood Recreation Center, 435 W. Illinois Ave.; Buehler YMCA, 1400 Northwest Highway; Ace Hardware, 239 E. Northwest Highway; Palatine Opportunity Center, 1585 Rand Rd.; Palatine Bank and Trust, 109 W. Slade St.; the Park District and the Village Hall. There are also drop boxes in Rolling Meadows at West Meadows Ice Arena, Rolling Meadows Ice Rinks, City Hall and the fire stations on Meadow Drive and Plum Grove Road. Call Jessica Kirsch at Lavelle Law, 847-705-7555.
Volunteers
Volunteers are needed to help collect seeds from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday. Meet at Citizens for Conservation headquarters, 459 W. Illinois Highway 22, Barrington, across from Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital. Bring work gloves and dress for the weather. Call 847-382-7283.
Making a Difference
The Barrington Area Community Foundation has provided $65,000 in grants this year to area organizations, including the Council on Aging, Historical Society, Suzuki Strings, Youth Dance Ensemble, Cowboy Dreams, Hospice of Northeastern Illinois, New Generations and Safe Daughters.
The Illinois Arts Council has awarded Performing Arts at Metropolis a $16,500 Presenters Development Grant for its arts education programs. The not-for-profit organization provides theatrical and art education programming at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights.
