Help prepare a garden for the food pantry

This weekend, take advantage of the fantastic weather we've been experiencing while also supporting a good cause.

Eagle Scouts from the Boy Scouts of Algonquin Troop 151 will be working all weekend to clean up the garden on the Larsen property, which houses the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Food Pantry.

The Larsen Property, 1111 Pyott Road, Lake in the Hills has an overgrown garden that volunteers would like to reclaim for a vegetable garden. Boy Scout troops and volunteers will work from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, pulling weeds, leveling the ground, laying pavers and installing chicken wire. Volunteers need to just show up ready to work.

While a vegetable garden will not be planted this season, there's a lot of work to do to prepare the area for a garden that food pantry clients can use for fresh produce next year.

Diane Magerko, a volunteer with the Scouts troop and also Community Unit District 300, said Scouts from all over the area will be on hand to work.

For information, call Diane Magerko at (312) 310-9156.

Congrats: Earlier this week, OfficeMax surprised three teachers in Elgin Area District U-46 with an award and $1,000 worth of classroom supplies. The visits were part of OfficeMax's #8220;A Day Made Better#8221; campaign. On one day a year, 1,000 teachers across the country are recognized for their passion, dedication and innovation in the classroom. This year, the three teachers in U-46 were: Moses Irizarry, a first-grade English language learners teacher at Huff Elementary in Elgin; Debbie Oplt, an early childhood education teacher at Illinois Park Early Learning Center in Elgin; and Kathy Mentink, a fifth-grade teacher at Sycamore Trails Elementary School in Bartlett.The winning teachers were nominated by their building principals. In addition to helping his students improve in the classroom in the past three years, Irizarry was instrumental in reorganizing the school's Parent Teacher Organization. The school has not had a PTO in seven years. Meanwhile, Oplt has worked in the field of early childhood education for more than 20 years. At Illinois Park, she volunteers to help out in the office and is active in the school's Social Committee. Mentink is best known for trying new things with an open mind. She's also an amazing teacher and a wonderful leader among her peers at Sycamore Trails Elementary School, Principal Christine Zelaya said.