Bloomingdale group’s donation brings fireworks back to Roselle
A $9,000 donation from a nonprofit group affiliated with a Bloomingdale church will allow Roselle to once again celebrate Independence Day with a fireworks display.
Roselle had to cancel last year’s show because of a lack of money and sponsors. The village appeared headed in the same direction this year when its “Get a Bang for Your Buck” fundraising campaign generated roughly $9,300 — far short of its $15,000 goal.
But the donation from For The10, a group associated with Mission Church of Bloomingdale, gave the campaign the boost it needed, raising the total collected to $18,300 and providing enough to cement plans for a fireworks show at dusk Friday, July 5.
“They proposed that they would like to donate an amount so we could put on a successful, beautiful fireworks show,” Roselle Mayor Gayle Smolinski said Thursday.
For The10 also is sponsoring a concert by Beatles cover band American English to precede the show at Lake Park High School’s West Campus. The concert begins at 6:45 p.m. The concert and fireworks both are free.
The donation is part of an initiative to promote Project Just Start, which provides backpacks full of school supplies for area students in need. For The10 serves 10 communities near Mission Church in Bloomingdale, including Addison, Bartlett, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Glendale Heights, Hanover Park, Itasca, Medinah, Roselle and Wood Dale.
Roselle has been facing budget shortfalls and the village hasn’t had funding for fireworks for the past three years.
In 2010 and 2011, the Roselle Chamber of Commerce and area businesses paid for the display, but last year, the village couldn’t find a sponsor and the show was scrapped. That’s why Smolinski said she’s happy to be bringing a fireworks display back this July.
“Our community has been so supportive of the cuts we’ve had to make with our budget and so understanding,” Smolinski said. “So to me, this is a gift back to the community.”