Buffalo Grove restaurant to hold fundraiser for teen

A Buffalo Grove restaurateur is hosting a fundraiser next Thursday and Friday to help out the family of Wheeling High School student Jared Baim.

Pete Panayiotou, who owns the Continental Restaurant at 788 S. Buffalo Grove Road, says all the proceeds from a special Jared birthday cake, plus all other desserts sold those two days, will go to the fund that helps pay Jared's medical expenses.

Jared, who has muscular dystrophy, has been in Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge this past month, after an infection settled in his heart.

Still in intensive care but no longer intubated, Jared is waiting for his kidneys to begin to function so he can get into a regular hospital room and resume his studies with a tutor, according to his uncle, Don Singer of Buffalo Grove.

Singer said doctors have assured Jared his kidneys will be fine.

"They have him doing lung-strengthening exercises, so he can breathe more comfortably and talk," Singer added.

Panayiotou held the first "Just Desserts" fundraiser a few years ago to help Jared and his mother, Ellen Baim, buy a van that would accommodate two wheelchairs. Ellen Baim has multiple sclerosis, and two wheelchairs wouldn't fit in the family car. Funds raised also helped to install a ramp in the Wheeling home they lived in at the time.

For Jared's 17th birthday next week, Panayiotou is teaming with Concept Food Brokers of Arlington Heights for a "Happy 17th Birthday, Jared" cake. The sheet cake will feed 100 people.

"Jared has touched me since he was very young," Panayiotou said.

While Jared was sedated and on life-support, the restaurateur visited him with a "care package" from his favorite team, the Green Bay Packers.

Though he couldn't speak, the teen gave Pete a thumbs-up when he saw the signed photo of his hero, Brett Favre.

The restaurant is at the northwest corner of Buffalo Grove and Dundee roads. Hours are 6 a.m. to midnight daily. Call (847) 459-4095 for more information.