Mothers' Club celebrates spring with kids
Christina Darquea of St. Charles is mother to a 1-year-old and has another baby on the way.
She joined the St. Charles Mothers' Club shortly after the birth of her first and has since then recruited a neighbor into the philanthropic organization.
"There's the social aspect of being in the mothers' club and you get to do a lot of good work for the community," Darquea said Sunday as she sold game tickets for the club's inaugural spring party at Pottawatomie Park in St. Charles.
Children and their parents flooded into the St. Charles Park District gymnasium for an afternoon of music, food, games and prizes, but the underlying theme was to support the club's efforts in the community.
"We wanted to do something that involved families," club President Julie Mondi said. "And this is a great way to kick off the spring season."
With a calypso band and games like beach ball toss and Hula Hoop pop, the beach party theme proved a winner. Local merchants supported the event by renting display tables to promote their businesses and donated gift baskets as raffle prizes.
The proceeds will be used to support the club's many programs. These include the Sherry Costello Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Breakfast Bar Program, which provides nutritious snacks to St. Charles elementary school children who arrive at school without having eaten breakfast.
The Costello scholarship aids single mothers who are going back to college and awards five or six individuals with scholarships every year, Mondi said.
Last year, the club donated more than $15,000 to benefit community programs and people in need.
Every year, the club votes on where it donates the money it has raised, according to member Diane Comstock.
Darice Augustine is a longtime club member and a past president. For Sunday's party, she was dressed in a Scooby-Doo costume with a grass skirt.
"When I first moved to St. Charles about 11 years ago, I saw the mothers' club marching in the Christmas parade and decided to see what they were about," Augustine said. "It's really been a fun way to meet people and kept me busy in the community."