Seed money grows for local agencies
Two Northwest suburban agencies turned out to be the big winners on Tuesday as part of the "Little Give" program on the Eric & Kathy Show on WTMX 101.9-FM, The MIX.
The Wheeling Township Food Pantry and the Palatine Opportunity Center both drew widespread donations that combined reached nearly $13,000, thanks to the efforts of two fans of the radio show.
Michelle Miller of Arlington Heights and Shannon Jefferies of Oak Park were each given $100 in seed money. They were chosen randomly as this week's contestants in the promotion, patterned after Oprah's "Big Give."
"Interest in this keeps building and building," Eric Ferguson said Tuesday after the show. "Originally we had thought this would be a one- or two-week thing, but now we've extended it through next week. It's really inspiring to see the huge response."
Starting Monday, Miller and Jefferies had 24 hours to raise as much money as they could for their designated charities.
Jefferies works as development director at Rainbows, a grief support agency for children in Rolling Meadows, but according to the promotion's rules, she couldn't raise money for her own company. Consequently, she chose the Palatine Opportunity Center.
"They just make such a huge impact on so many people's lives," said Jefferies, after touring the Edgebrook Community Center's homework resource room, and learning about its "Promise to Play" interactive literacy program for children and their parents.
Jefferies at first raised $3,200 after a putting out an e-mail blitz to family and friends, and fueled by a visit next door to the Portillo's restaurant, where she had planned to ask customers during its busy lunch hour to contribute.
"It turns out the guy I talked to, was Mr. (Frank) Portillo, so I knew my morning was starting out well," Jefferies says. "He said, 'How about if I make you a $1,000 pledge to get you started. Will that help?'"
It did. Later in the morning, just beyond her 24-hour deadline, Jefferies received another donation, this one an anonymous contribution of $3,000 made through a credit card transaction directly to the agency, bringing her total up to $6,265.
Miller, the mother of three young children, had just finished reading a copy of the Wheeling Township newsletter featuring Supervisor Michael Schroeder's quest to stock the food pantry when she called into the show.
When she got through, she and her husband, Jeff, produced a flier to circulate before she recruited block coordinators to canvass her neighborhood, and approached officials at Windsor School to send home the information in backpack mail.
She ended her day spending two hours in front of the Arlington Heights Metra station, soliciting cash donations. It all added up to $6,600 for the food pantry.
"I probably had 200 people in all donate," Miller says. "It was such an emotional day. I had children handing me money from their parents, and from their banks."
Wheeling Township officials said the money would go into their emergency fund and be earmarked for purchasing food for the pantry when its shelves run low.
"This will really go a long way," Schroeder said. "The number of visits to our food pantry has risen astronomically."
MIX officials said the pair have raised the most money so far.
"It's been amazing to see what $100 can do," said Dave Karwowski, marketing manager for The MIX. "Increasingly, the contestants have become more inventive and raised more money."