Family reaches out to inform house fire victims
Julie and Matthew DuJardin figure they are simply "paying it forward" when helping families hit by the tragedy of losing their home in a fire.
"Someone helped us when we had our fire, and we felt it was important to help others," Julie said.
Matthew put together a Power Point presentation that outlines everything a person needs to know about the process, including things that insurance companies and others may not tell you.
"We were walking around in a fog that first week after our fire," Julie said of the Sept. 30, 2007 blaze that destroyed their Campton Hills home in the Arbor Creek subdivision. 'We needed someone to help us."
Matthew is a sales manager at Burgess Norton, so the DuJardins have no hidden agenda or reason to help, other than they know what people such as the O'Connor family from earlier this year, and the Foley family from just last week, are going through when losing their homes.
"I think one of the key things is putting together the inventory of your personal property," Julie said. "You want to throw it out, even if it is just a nail clipper or something like that, but the key is to not throw it out yet, because it's all a part of the insurance.
"You have to work the whole disaster as if it is a business," she added. "There are many 'hidden' things like replacement money for driveways and landscaping. You have to know all of this if you want to rebuild your house."
The DuJardins are living proof - living in their rebuilt home in Arbor Creek. And they are willing to help others understand the recovery process.
Centennial for Scouts: The grounds at Cantigny Park are quite large - and they'll have to be Saturday. As many as 10,000 Boy Scouts will converge on the property in Winfield for the 100th anniversary of Scouting, recognized through the local Three Fires Council chapter and its Scout-O-Rama.
Cantigny facilities offer a fitting setting, with the military history museum and impressive gardens and other features. Mostly, it will be a celebration of a great American institution with several traditional scouting events and special events - such as the presentation of the American flag from a President Teddy Roosevelt re-enactor.
Jewelry gesture: Kristen Deuter lost her stepfather to cancer four years ago and wants to make a donation from her business to the Living Well Cancer Research Center in Geneva.
Dueter sells jewelry through lia Sophia and will host a fundraising sale from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the AMLI at St. Charles clubhouse off Kirk Road.
"I am donating all of my profits, from anything I sell that night, or orders from that event through May 20, to the Living Well Center," Dueter said.
Her hope is to turn the effort into an ongoing fundraiser by making a 50 percent donation from any jewelry party booked that evening, and then 25 percent donations from subsequent parties resulting from the original party.
Anyone unable to attend, can get information from Kristen at (630) 768-8952.