Editorial: Eagerness to help those in need makes our suburbs great
Many things make the suburbs special, but one stands out: People's eagerness to step forward and help neighbors who need it. Born of a close connection to the community and a strong empathy for others, that willingness to give time, funds, skills and energy defies some of the less flattering stereotypes of suburbia and defines what makes our towns so great.
Our pages are full of examples this week:
A few families who started a food drive in Palatine in 2010 now have expanded to include hundreds of volunteers collecting items from thousands of homes to stock the Palatine Township food pantry, which helps feed people who have low incomes or face financial crises.
A woman who vowed to pay it forward after a fundraiser helped with the costs of an accessible bedroom and bathroom for her young son now is one of the people behind a concert to benefit Autumn Hamilton, a Glenbard East High School sophomore severely burned in a fire pit explosion at a party three months ago in Glendale Heights.
A 20th anniversary "Day of Caring" in Elgin will support organizations that provide aid by deploying local volunteers to paint, garden, renovate and do other work at health and social service organizations such as Boys & Girls Club of Elgin, Easter Seals DuPage & Fox Valley Region, Ecker Center for Mental Health, Family Service Association, Food for Greater Elgin, Northern Illinois Food Bank, PADS of Elgin and Well Child Center.
Generous actions by friends or strangers can be a crucial lifeline for someone facing calamity. And there are benefits beyond that. Simply seeing such unselfish efforts is reassuring to the community at large in a time marked by so much conflict.
As research into the so-called "helper's high" has shown, acts of altruism even are credited with a wealth of benefits for the giver, including reducing stress and depression.
And the good deeds grow.
Margarita Rivera, whose son with Duchenne muscular dystrophy received help for his accessible living quarters, helped organize his namesake group, For the Love of Lee. It has helped with expenses of four other families that have seriously ill children and now is aiding Autumn, who is still in the burn unit at Loyola University Medical Center near Maywood.
"A community came together to help us, and I made a promise - I'm a woman of faith - that I would continue to help," Rivera said. "I don't have a problem hugging and crying with families because I understand their pain."