The annual Help Them To Hope campaign is wrapping up this week with more than $45,000 in donations, the board secretary said.
The community-wide fundraising effort this year added the Roberti Community House to its roster of local service agencies that benefit from the campaign, said Rich Ribando, the president of Help Them To Hope’s board.
The other agencies on the list are Beacon Place, Catholic Charities of Lake County, COOL Ministries, Community Social Services, PADS Lake County and VFW Post No. 1293 Waukegan.
Roberti Community House — a community center at 919 Eighth St. in Waukegan that houses a children’s library, classes for adults and a meeting space — came to the campaign’s attention through another organization, Community Social Services, located right across the street, Ribando said.
Kids who gathered at the Roberti Community House for after-school programs were making their way across the street to the soup kitchen run by Community Social Services, Ribando said. But the group wasn’t allowed to serve them without an adult present and had to turn them away.
The plan is to use Roberti Community House’s portion of the money raised to address that issue and make sure the kids don’t go hungry, he said.
The campaign has raised $42,518 as of Wednesday, board Secretary Rosemary Alfredson said. They raised $67,000 total last year.
Alfredson isn’t sure why the amount is lower this year, but Ribando said that perhaps as the economy improves, people think there’s less of a need.
That’s not the case, he said.
“There is a hidden group of citizens that suffer every day,” Ribando said. “They suffer because they work two or three minimum wage jobs. By the time they pay their rent, they can’t afford food.”
Help Them To Hope raises money all year long, but during the holiday season campaign, the Lake County News-Sun runs the names of donors and who they’ve donated in honor of, Alfredson said. Donations received Friday morning will be the last of this year’s campaign to be listed in the paper.
To donate to the fund, send checks or money orders to Help Them To Hope, P.O. Box 364, Gurnee, IL 60031, or Help Them To Hope, c/o NorStates Bank, 1601 N. Lewis Ave., Waukegan, IL 60085.
Donations also may be made in person at NorStates Bank, 1601 N. Lewis Ave., Waukegan.
Total donations for Friday were $1,802.75. The total for the 2016-17 holiday season was $45,231.40.
Gurnee
*John and Leona Spurling: $150.
*Barbara J. Swanson: In memory of Howard Swanson and Joyce Swanson; $500.
Lake Bluff
*Anonymous donation: $25.
Lake Villa
*Rebecca Reckamp: In memory of Bill Reckamp,$30.
Libertyville
*Lisbeth Schlesinger: $50.
North Chicago
*Tony and Dianne Theis: In honor of Lake County Law Enforcement Officers, $500.
Wadsworth
*Joanne Paulson: In memory of Frank and Nick Perpich and Roy Paulson, $100.
Waukegan
*St. John’s United Church of Christ: $165.75
*Waukegan Park District Staff: $282.
— Staff report
