4-H Club in Hoffman Estates doing canned fruit drive for township pantries

Ten-year-old Reese Lyon says people should consider donating to her youth club's canned fruit drive because, well, it's good to help others.

"We are collecting all of it for people need," said Reese, of Hoffman Estates. She and her younger sister Paige, 8, are members of the Eco Buds 4-H Club, which is starting a canned fruit drive Saturday to benefit local township food pantries.

Club members will collect donations at predetermined spots. They also can pick up donations in the general area of Hoffman Estates, Barrington, Palatine and Schaumburg.

The Eco Buds 4-H Club, based in Hoffman Estates, has about a dozen members ages 5 to 18 and typically meets monthly at the Barrington Area Public Library.

This is the club's third annual food drive. The first year the youths collected socks for Journeys - The Road Home shelter in Palatine, and the second year they collected pasta for food pantries.

"The kids vote on what we collect and who we donate to, and this year they voted for canned fruit," said the sisters' mother, Michelle Lyon. "We are hoping to primarily benefit the Palatine Township Food Pantry, and hopefully also Schaumburg and Barrington townships, depending how many donations we get."

4‑H delivers programs for youth in the areas of science, healthy living and civic engagement and is run by Cooperative Extension, a community of more than 100 public universities nationwide. The Eco Buds 4-H Club is run through the University of Illinois Extension's Cook County office.

"A lot of people don't know that 4-H is this far north, and in the suburbs," Lyon said.

The club members love to help the environment, Reese said. "It's important because of the animals. And we need to keep the Earth alive," she explained.

Among her favorite club activities was a litter cleanup at the Forest Preserves of Cook County's Busse Woods by Schaumburg and Elk Grove Village, she said. "It kind of made me feel happy," Reese said.

The club also is a good way to make friends, she added.

For more information about the canned fruit drive and the club, email ecobuds4H@gmail.com.