Volunteer with help from student
Those who volunteer their time for area nonprofit groups already know how rewarding that activity can be. They also know it is a great way to make new friends, while helping others in need.
Ben Gaddis, a junior at St. Charles North High School, understands all of that.
He is putting his Eagle Scout project idea to work from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday in the high school library with a nonprofit fair.
Nearly 20 nonprofit organizations will be on hand to provide information to students and community residents interested in learning how to volunteer.
"The idea came from the saying that, 'If you are ever going to solve world hunger, you start with the starving children in your own backyard,' " Gaddis said.
"This is an event that will show how you can help people in your community."
Gaddis said the Nonprofit Fair will emphasize "going out and volunteering and helping," to illustrate there are needs beyond donations of money.
Nancy Loftus of the Boy Scouts of America Three Fires Council in St. Charles said the project falls in line with Scouting's strategic plan of 2008 to increase the number of volunteers nationwide by 1 million.
Community members are encouraged to attend the fair, which will feature organizations such as Salvation Army, Red Cross, United Way, Fox Valley Literacy Volunteers, Lost Boys of Sudan and many others.
"I would like to stress the importance of learning how to volunteer year-round," Gaddis said. "The holidays are not the only time to be thinking about this."
Top-rate newshawks: I didn't want to forget to congratulate the young journalists who make up the staff of the Kaneland Krier newspaper at Kaneland High School.
They recently earned an award for superior achievement from Quill and Scroll, the honorary society for high school journalists.
When my job included mentoring aspiring journalists through a career-exploring program offered by the local Scouting council, it always was a safe bet that students from Kaneland would show a lot of interest and skill in the program.
Look out below: Be still, my beating (or grumbling) stomach. I've just gotten word about the new executive chef at McNally's Irish Pub in St. Charles, a fellow named Chris Albano.
And the marketing folks at the pub used words that were music to my ears -- the fish and chips, and corned beef and cabbage at the restaurant could be better than ever. See what I mean about warning my stomach?
The pub unleashed its new menu last week. Considering McNally's is entering its 10th year of business, something tells me they'll have plenty of folks trying the new dishes.
A helpful trip: My thanks to Ro and Karen Sparacio of Geneva for sending a follow-up letter and some photos of their recent medical mission and women's conferencing trip to Haiti for Christ Community Church, that I reported on last September.
The trip, which brought medical relief to King's Garden orphanage and hospital in Delmas, Haiti, started in late October and was completed in early November.
The Sparacios report the medical team saw 400 patients during the stay, and the women's conference encouraged 50 professional women to pursue success in business.
They also mentioned that one of the most interesting encounters was when they met two women who have lived in Haiti all of their lives. They were showing the Christ Community Church visitors some pictures of what Haiti looked like in the 1970s, when it was considered "The Pearl of the Caribbean." There has been so much destruction in Haiti since then, virtually nothing looks the same, the Sparacios said.
Those who understand what has happened in Haiti, as compared to other countries in that region, know that political turmoil and violence have led to horrific poverty and unrest. A country that looks from afar as if it would be a perfect tourist destination is anything but.
dheun@sbcglobal.net