Put your bowling skills to work for a good cause

Spring is a time for rebirth and new life.

You also can help a 21-year-old former Bartlett High School student take a step toward a new beginning.

An April 12 bowling fund-raiser will be held in Elgin to help raise money a kidney transplant for Zuleica Arano.

Since she was 13, Arano has suffered from end-stage renal disease and, as a result, the Hanover Park resident was forced to drop out of high school during her sophomore year.

Since her failing kidneys cannot remove waste products from her blood, Arano must travel three times per week to Chicago for all-day hemodialysis treatments. During dialysis, her blood is removed from her body and filtered before being circulated back into her system.

"She's up and around. She's existing, but she's not able to lead a normal life," said Marianne Supan, a sister at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Schaumburg, of which Arano is a member.

Supan said supporters are close to raising the $150,000 needed so the kidney transplant process can begin in earnest. Until the goal is reached, more intensive tests of willing, live donors such as her mother, Lucina Estrada, cannot proceed.

Holy Spirit volunteers also have worked with the Living Lord Church in Bartlett to raise money.

Although Woodview Lanes, 11 Woodview Drive, Elgin, is a bit out of the way for some of Arano's friends, it was the only alley not booked for leagues.

Tickets for the event are $25 per person and include a buffet dinner at 8:30 p.m., followed by three bowling games and shoe rental.

Tickets are available through April 9 at each church or by calling (847) 882-7580.

"I think it's a great deal," Supan said. "It's going to be a fun evening for a good cause."

Club continues polio fight

Charity may start at home, but some Elgin groups are taking it overseas.

And because of some clever networking, they will contribute $150,000 to end polio for good.

At last week's Rotary Club of Elgin meeting, Club President Mike McKay gave $50,000 to Rotary International President Wilf Wilkerson in support of Rotary's campaign to eradicate polio.

The meeting was the first time the top Rotary official visited the Elgin group, which was chartered in 1922.

Rotary International has worked since 1985 to eliminate polio from the world. As of November, only four countries had a high incidence of polio: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan.

McKay approached the presidents of Provena St. Joseph Hospital and Sherman Health, Bill Brown and Rick Floyd, respectively, to create a partnership. Each Elgin Hospital contributed $25,000.

"The Elgin partnership that has formed to assist this global objective is a true testimony of the concern and compassion of both Provena Saint Joseph Hospital and Sherman Health for the health of individuals world-wide," McKay said.

Rotary International will match the joint contribution at 50 cents on the dollar, bringing the pledge to $75,000.

Also, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will provide a 100 percent match for a total of $150,000.

For information about the Rotary Club of Elgin or the PolioPlus program, call (847) 841-1550 or visit www.rotaryclubofelgin.org.