100 years of tagging for children

Children's Benefit League is celebrating its 100th anniversary of tag days this year.

Volunteers will be on the street Friday and Saturday in Bensenville, Carol Stream, Elmhurst, Geneva, Glen Ellyn, St. Charles, West Chicago, Wheaton and Winfield collecting donations.

Last year, 749 taggers gave more than 1,946 hours of their time on Tag Days to raise $61,221.49.

For the past 99 years, donations in the suburbs and Chicago have totaled more than $9.5 million.

"The mission of Children's League Benefit is to serve the neediest children and their families through agencies in the Chicagoland area," Steven Koll, president of the organization, said in a prepared statement. "These services are as needed today as they were 100 years ago when Chicago Benefit League first got started."

The Children's Benefit League, a nonsectarian organization established for the sole purpose of coordinating fundraising for its member agencies, is the oldest of the tag days authorized by most suburbs.

"Our communities have been chipping in to help make a difference for the last 99 years. In order for us to keep helping those in need, we need the community's continued support April 11-12," Koll says.

Children throughout the metropolitan area are served by member agencies of the Children's Benefit League. Thousands of children are given full-time care in institutions or foster homes; others are given part-time care in neighborhood centers, alternative schools, Head Start Programs and summer camps. Others are a part of environmental education, alcohol & drug abuse prevention, and vision impaired/ blind services.