Help out homeless students with school supply donations
After we ran a two-day series on the increasing number of homeless students in suburban districts, comments flooded in from across the board.
Some readers were upset we'd dare write about a pregnant teen who had been shuttled between relatives and was trying her hardest to finish school.
Others said they felt for the families struggling to find a roof over their heads.
The majority of comments, however, came from readers who wanted to give to those in need - whether in school supplies, gift cards, or monetary donations.
One woman even offered homeless mother Inger Balderas and her five children a place to stay for two months. Completely free.
Talking to one of my editors, I wondered if there was something more we could do, some way we could facilitate readers' wishes to help.
He suggested I call Patty Briones, District 300's devoted homeless services secretary. Briones said the district's phones also had been ringing off the hook.
"I can't believe this," she said.
In such tough times, its buoying to see so many striving to help their neighbors.
Community Unit District 300 will be collecting donations of school supplies at any of its campus locations in the coming weeks. For more information, contact Briones, patricia.briones@d300.org.
Nice ride(s): Elgin Community College's campus safety vehicles recently won third-place in "Law and Order Magazine's" 2009 police vehicle design contest, in the colleges and universities category.
Their black SUVs feature gray "Elgin Community College Police" lettering over a turquoise stripe.
According to a college news release, more than 300 police departments participated in the contest. ECC's police vehicles will be featured in the August issue of the magazine.
Picture this: Mark Carriveau, a photographer at ECC, received a distinguished service award from the University Photographers' Association of America. Carriveau, of West Chicago, was selected by the association's board of directors for his work judging of nearly at the UPAA's annual symposiums. Carriveau has worked at ECC since 1996.