Abby Foundation gala set for Friday
The Abby Foundation’s Women Together Luncheon is marking its 30th anniversary with the event set for Friday at the Tinley Park Convention Center, 18451 Convention Center Drive.
Booths open at 9 a.m., with the luncheon and awards ceremony set to begin at noon, according to a release about the gala. In between, foundation members will be selling raffle tickets and holding a silent auction, the release said.
Zoraida Sambolin, an NBC5 news co-anchor, will be the keynote speaker, the release said.
Tickets are $45 and can be bought online through Tuesday by visiting abbyfoundation.org or by calling (708) 802-2229.
The Abby Foundation’s mission is to raise money for established nonprofits that help women and their children, and to fund scholarships for women.
North Palos Fire Protection District gets grant
The North Palos Fire Protection District has been awarded a $363,637 grant through the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, according to a press release from the office of U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-3rd.
The grant will be used to help buy a new pumper engine truck, the release said.
The fire district serves Palos Hills, Worth, Hickory Hills and the local Cook County forest preserves.
Together We Cope earns award
Tinley Park-based Together We Cope, a social services agency, recently received the Safety Net Award from the United Way, according to a release from Together We Cope.
The award recognizes the nonprofit’s work in connecting with the community by fostering leadership from within and developing partnerships that support the food pantry, United Way program coordinator Stephen Samuels said in the release.
Samuels also said that Together We Cope, in serving 27 Southland communities, helps residents in an area often perceived as too economically sound to include those who are struggling, the release said.
But “even in areas like Tinley Park, Orland Park and the Palos communities, there’s still need,” he said in the release. “The economic downturn affected the entire community.”
Together We Cope Executive Director Kathryn Straniero said the agency was honored to get the award.
“Everyone at this agency works very hard every day with one goal: to help families in crisis, which strengthens the community for all of us,” she said in the release.
SXU awarded nearly $1M to aid nursing students
Saint Xavier University’s School of Nursing and Office of Government, Corporate and Foundation Relations recently received notice it would receive two federal grants totaling $988,194 to provide 65 undergraduate and graduate nursing students with substantial financial support in the 2015-16 school year, the university said in a press release.
SXU got $343,194 from the Advanced Education Nurse Traineeship program, which will benefit 22 students in its family nurse practitioner program who have an interest in offering primary care to medically underserved communities; and $645,000 from the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students program, which will be used to award scholarships to 43 undergraduate nursing students from disadvantaged backgrounds, the release said.
SXU is the only university in Illinois to receive funding in both programs this year, the release said.
SSC hosts open houses
South Suburban College is set to host two open houses this week geared toward helping new and prospective students prepare for school, according to a release from the college.
A Child Development Center open house is slated for 3 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, and a collegewide open house is set for 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday.
The Child Development Center open house is for both students and residents, as the center will open its doors to the public for the first time during the fall semester, according to the release. It is for children ages 2 to 12 (must be potty trained) and is tuition-based, the release said.
The center is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays.
Open registration for the fall semester is ongoing, with classes slated to begin Aug. 24, the release said.
For more information about the Child Development Center open house, call (708) 596-2000, Ext. 2210. For information about the collegewide open house or enrollment, call (708) 210-5718.
The main campus is at 15800 S. State St., South Holland.
