Kids' Best Friend award winners named

The Education Center in Naperville has named those who will be honored at the center's Kids' Best Friend Benefit and Awards Dinner.

This year's awards and winners, to be celebrated on Friday, Oct. 16, are:

• Kids' Best Friend Award - Ray Jones, Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home;

• Outstanding Community Leader Award - Nicki Scott, Rotary Club of Naperville Sunrise and Rotary International District 6450;

• Making a Difference Award - Vicki Coletta, Project HELP and the Exchange Club of Naperville; and

• George and Pat Pradel Humanitarian Award - Brand and Mary Ann Bobosky, community leaders for the Century Walk and education.

The benefit provides scholarships for counseling or tutoring at The Education Center, a Naperville nonprofit, for students experiencing challenges at school. Those challenges might be due to problems at home, traumatic experiences, drug or alcohol abuse, lack of study skills or motivation, and other events that interfere with their learning. Scholarships also are available for students whose parents are serving in the military.

"The people who we are honoring all have one thing in common," said Mike Litow, founder and executive director of The Education Center. "In addition to being busy in their personal lives, they always find time to give back to the community and improve the quality of life for families."

Tickets to the Oct. 16 Kids' Best Friend Benefit and Award Dinner are $125 per person and include a cocktail reception, dinner, dancing, and live and silent auctions. The reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Hilton Lisle/Naperville, 3003 Corporate West Drive, Lisle.

With a 97 percent success rate of graduating children who are facing a variety of issues that are keeping them from achieving success, The Education Center offers area families a place of hope and help. The annual Kids' Best Friend benefit directly supports the many programs of The Education Center.

For information, contact the center at (630) 420-7807 or theeducationcenter.org.