Rada Cheremoshnyuk was looking for a central source of interesting places to go and things to do with her young child. When she couldn’t locate one, the Northbrook mom started the Chicago Parents Facebook Group.
Eight years later, the group has over 6,000 members and is bursting with ideas for things to do with children that can be especially helpful during the holiday season. Parents can learn about everything from a gingerbread house competition to a model train workshop, a source for free books, light shows, and even drum lessons for their own little drummer boy or girl.
Cheremoshnyuk was living in Chicago and working for an online publisher, hulafrog.com, covering the Chicago territory, when she started the group.
“I was a publisher for them which meant I would source events and family-friendly events and events for children, and put it in a weekly calendar,” she related. “I found it so hard to find these events because small businesses didn’t really promote them and there wasn’t a lot of places where you would find them.”
One of her goals in starting the Facebook group was to boost small businesses that didn’t have the budget to advertise their events and resources.
Cheremoshnyuk believes that the reason the Facebook Group took off was because, “There’s not a lot of groups that allow businesses to advertise and promote themselves,” she explained. “Every group bans this. I decided to do the opposite and allow these businesses to share their resources and offerings. As a result, everyone benefits.”
There is no charge for the businesses to promote their offerings on the Facebook Group.
Cheremoshnyuk, who works at Medline Industries, a medical supplies company in Northfield, still finds time to serve as a gatekeeper for the Facebook Group.
“I make sure that the quality of the group stays on-point,” she said. “When somebody submits activities or events, I first have to authorize it prior to entry. I don’t allow promotions from businesses that don’t suit the family lifestyle. I filter to make sure that the content in the group is relevant.”
The Facebook Group receives from 50-100 submissions per month.
Although the parents and businesses in the group were primarily Chicago-based at the beginning, the group has been rapidly expanding to include suburban events and a suburban audience.
Cheremoshnyuk reported that the Lombard Historical Society is very active on the Facebook Group. “They have such fun events,” she said.
Sometimes suburbanites visit the Facebook page to learn what’s happening in Chicago.
“We have a lot of people from the suburbs asking questions or looking for things to do in the city because they’re coming to spend a night in the city or a day or the weekend,” Cheremoshnyuk noted.
Not only is Cheremoshnyuk the force behind the Facebook Group, she is also a user, finding things to do with her son, who is nearly 10.
“I found a chess instructor for him,” she said. “I found a music instructor for him. I found a couple of camps for him through the Facebook Group. We found rollerblading in Mundelein and sports centers that we normally wouldn’t hear of.”
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
