DuPage County briefs

Baseball to help students:

Benedictine University and the DuPage Dragons are using baseball to raise money for college students having trouble meeting their financial obligations. "Support a Benedictine Student with a Night at the Game" will be at 7:05 p.m. Aug. 8 at the Village of Lisle-Benedictine Sports Complex, 5700 College Road, Lisle, when the Dragons play the Springfield Sliders. Tickets may be purchased at the gate; half of the $6 price will go to the Retention Scholarship fund at Benedictine. Gates open at 6 p.m.

Aurora asked to Fill the Boot:

The Aurora Firefighter's Association will collect donations for its annual Muscular Dystrophy Association "Fill the Boot" campaign Friday through Sunday. Firefighters will be stationed throughout the city. Residents also may stop by any of the nine Aurora fire stations between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. to make a donation. For a listing of stations, go to www.aurora-il.org and click on Fire Department / Station Locations. The results of the campaign will be announced during the Jerry Lewis Telethon on Labor Day weekend. Last year, Aurora firefighters raised $14,825 and this year their goal is $20,000.

Beware phone solicitors:

Lombard Fire Chief George Seagraves reports some residents have received telephone solicitations from a group identifying itself as the "Illinois Association of Disabled and Retired Firefighters." Callers told residents a donation will directly benefit local disabled and retired firefighters. The organization is not connected in any way to the village or the Lombard Fire Department, and retired or disabled Lombard firefighters have not received funds from the group, Seagraves said. The Illinois attorney general's office has no registration record for the group. To find out if a charity is registered with the state, call the attorney general's charitable trusts bureau at (312) 814-2595. Lombard residents with questions about this or any fire or police solicitation should contact the police department at (630) 873-4400.

Dist. 203 receives grant:

Naperville Unit District 203 has received a $333,978 grant from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The money will be used for installation of rain gardens, bioswales, permeable pavement, vegetated buffer strips, green roofs and a detention basin vegetated with native grasses at the district's new early childhood center. The $11 million school currently under construction in Lisle will serve 3- to 5-year-olds with special needs while also providing a blended, tuition-based preschool program. It is scheduled to open in 2010.