Daily Herald opinion: Suburban efforts at improving lives extend beyond the spectacles of national politics

With the Democratic National Convention taking place in Chicago this week, the connections of Illinoisans and the suburbs to political life will get serious prime-time attention.

Park Ridge native Hillary Clinton, Chicago native Michelle Obama and Elgin native Brandon Johnson are all big-league names who are slated to join Gov. J.B. Pritzker in taking speaking roles. And delegates from Wheaton to Glenview and parts in between will be active participants in events that will dominate news stories throughout the week.

These are, of course, noteworthy and important contributions to the political lifeblood of the nation. But as the glare of the public spotlight attracts our attention toward Chicago, let’s take time to remember also-important though much less celebrated activities of suburban residents intent on making a meaningful difference in the world.

One of those was profiled on Sunday as our Barbara Vitello described the activities of an Algonquin musician who writes, performs and posts songs intended to foster understanding of the war in Ukraine and provide encouragement to people living under the clouds of war.

Nerijus Glezekas, an immigrant who came to the U.S. from Lithuania in 2002, is just one person, and he has no friends in nor particular ties to Ukraine beyond his great-grandparents’ experiences as Lithuanian partisans who spent time in a Soviet labor camp. Yet, he insisted, “I’m an artist. I have to do something.”

His music has raised more than $6,000 for Ukrainian relief efforts, and a video he released on YouTube and Instagram attracted a response from a Ukrainian soldier who said the song “Seeds Will Grow” helped him heal physically and emotionally from scars of war.

Elsewhere, our Steve Zalusky wrote Monday about volunteers from a Lake County church parish who make dresses for girls out of donated materials and provide them to communities in need in troubled parts of the world. They recently completed 300 dresses and donated them to a charity linked to Deacon Don Grossnickle of Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Church in Arlington Heights, who emphasized the importance of such efforts.

The clothing and dolls provided by the Dress A Girl group of St. Mary of Vernon Parish in Indian Creek, went to families in Kasese, Uganda, who survived a June 2023 massacre by Congolese rebels and face other continuing hardships.

“The area where I’m working has had a mudslide, and there are 20,000 families that have been displaced,” Grossnickle told Zalusky.

Sharon Rudy, a Dress A Girl leader, added, “In many cases, the girls have never owned anything new before, so to get a new dress, something that’s cute and fun, means a lot.”

Grossnickle is himself active in the Microfinance Alliance Africa Projects Foundation, which works to raise standards of living in struggling communities in Africa. Through the efforts and compassion of small groups like Dress A Girl, the organization is helping develop a pig farm and a $30,000 health clinic in Uganda.

So, yes, major national spectacles certainly influence national and world events, and they benefit from the leadership, dedication and efforts of suburban individuals. But suburban individuals also work every day in less heralded roles demonstrating similar leadership, dedication and efforts to improve the lives of people around the world. Grossnickle pointed to a New Testament reference that is particularly apropos.

“In the Bible, the parable of the mustard seed teaches us that the smallest of seeds can grow into the largest of trees,” he said. “This story is no different.”