Chimera’s Comics Pilots Year of Near-Constant Charity Drives

The La Grange comic shop hopes to replicate success from its December toy drive with a winter clothing drive and a regular series of future charitable events to follow.

When La Grange’s Chimera’s Comics finished its December holiday toy drive for charity, store co-owner Carmelo Chimera tried to take a picture of the accumulated gifts—and found there were too many to fit in a single snapshot. The community response outpaced his wildest expectations, Chimera said, which bodes well for his larger vision: holding some type of charity drive at pretty much every time of the year.  “We always wanted to do charitable things through the store ever since we opened, and it’s something that unfortunately took us a while to get off the ground,” Chimera said. “But now that we’ve been open so long and have such a loyal customer base and a loyal community to support it. … Ideally, I’d love to do something every month.” …

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From a Western Springs Office, Helping the World Feed Itself

The Foods Resource Bank is a $4 million charity running programs in over 30 countries around the globe—and it operates out of a basement in Old Town South.

There’s a bitter irony to world hunger: it’s actually not most prevalent in crowded cities, but in the very rural lands where food is cultivated. So with the right small jump start—the right education, the right collaborations, the right assets—many of the world’s nearly one billion chronically hungry might well grow themselves crops enough to sustain a worthy standard of living. That’s the theory that drives the Western Springs-based Foods Resource Bank. “I think a lot of people will often think, oh, somebody’s hungry, let’s get them some food,” explained organization president Marv Baldwin. “Well, that’s fine for a day or two, or a week or a month. But what do they do next year? Our focus is on helping people learn to feed themselves—…

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La Grange Park Teen Cuts Hair, Gives Back

Lizzy Garreau, 15, recently cut her hair for donation to Locks of Love for the fifth time.

Lizzy Garreau, 15, of La Grange Park is nonchalant about her dedication to volunteering in the community. When talking with the Lyons Township High School sophomore about her list of charitable undertakings, it's almost as if she's listing off classes she wants to take, or the events of a trip to the movie theatre with friends in downtown La Grange—the pretty ordinary undertakings of a local teen. But Garreau's achievements are anything but ordinary, even as she downplays them in her humble, youthful voice. Every two years since she was in second grade, Garreau has cut her hair and donated it to Locks of Love—a charity that provides hairpieces for children under 21 who cannot otherwise afford them. "My hair has to grow 10 inches [to donate…

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Matthew Hendrickson

10:30 am on Sunday, January 8, 2012

Thanks Michael, for those words of encouragement. Congratulations on living your own dream as well. Thanks for sharing.   more ›

HCS Family Services Hosts Golf Outing for Charity

Proceeds will benefit needy families in Southeastern DuPage County.

HCS Family Services will host its second annual golf outing at the LaGrange Country Club on Monday, June 27. According to Kathy Harris, spokesperson for HCS Family Services, the event will raise much needed funds for the organization.  "Without the monies we receive from the golf event, we wouldn't be able to expand the program the way that the times are demanding," said Harris. "The need now is just greater and greater. We're a small office, and we could benefit from more case management and programming." The organization recently expanded from food pantry services to include additional services, such as rent and utility assistance, emergency services, homelessness prevention and job services to meet a growing demand in the community. The…

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Village Diversions

So You Think You Can Bike?

Neighborhood gym hosts charity challenge for young cancer survivor.

Love to ride? I personally, do not. I actually hate riding a bike. For a multitude of reasons, including my poor performance in the hand-eye coordination department, and my inability to control external factors, i.e., cars, small animals, pedestrians, insects, wind, rain, flying rocks… Enter the stationary bike. Solution! The ingenious metal machine conveniently eliminates a majority of my aforementioned excuses. No offense intended to any of my outdoor biking enthusiast buddies, I simply vote in favor of any enjoyable and somewhat stress-free way to boost my cardiovascular health, and hopefully tone my calves. Although truth be told, I am not inherently a lover of exercise, pair it with a good cause and I am more than game. This is …

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