Donations: Good deeds in the Joliet area

• Reprints

Updated: February 28, 2012 8:02AM

Lions Club gives to pantry

JOLIET — The Joliet Noon Lions were able to make the holidays a little brighter for the Spanish Community Center food pantry.

With a series of raffles at regular noon meetings for a few weeks and a gift certificate donated by Aldi Foods, the Lions were able to provide more than $300 worth of food to the center.

Lions Club shoppers Mark Turk, Pat Kaveney; John, Bobby and Melissa Honiotes; and Bruce Wright shopped for the groceries at Aldi and presented them to the center.

Fines waived for donations

MOKENA — The Mokena Library District waived fines on all overdue items returned to the library during December with a donation of socks, slippers, or shampoo. The library collected more than 300 items that were donated to the Mokena-Marley FISH organization.

Food drive to aid pantry

PLAINFIELD — Pheasant landing Homeowners Association, in conjunction with the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, will hold the annual food drive to benefit the Joliet and Plainfield food pantries.

Tom Earls has again offered to use his garage at 4509 Mallard as a drop-off location. He will box the donated items and get them ready to take to the pantry.

Drop-off hours will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Feb. 1 to 12. Weekend drop offs can be left by the side of the door.

Middle-schoolers donate books

PLAINFIELD — Movies and books helped Heritage Grove Middle School seventh-grade teacher Sabrina Palmisano’s cousin get through the ordeal of being diagnosed with bone cancer at age 16.

That memory inspired Palmisano to ask her students to donate books to Children’s Memorial Hospital to help kids there also deal with their challenges.

Heritage Grove’s seventh-graders donated more than 2,500 books and created more than 500 holiday cards to the hospital

“I called to see what the children could benefit from, and I was told that these children were in desperate need of books to read to get through their hard times,” said Palmisano, whose cousin died three years after being diagnosed.

Pancake breakfast a success

LOCKPORT — More than $2,150 was raised at the JKB Pancake Breakfast hosted by the J. Kyle Braid Leadership Foundation leaders.

Proceeds will be used to pay for two Lockport High students to attend the Colorado-based JKB program in the summer. The foundation’s mission is to teach young people leadership skills so that they, in turn, may reach out to other teens and their peers with help that might make a life-saving difference down the line.

JKB Alumni who hosted the breakfast, along with their parents, include Becca Lighton, Morgan Curry, Alex Theoharris, Shaun’Qae McMurtry, Leah Plescia, Paige Kooi, Brandon Witsaman and Jesse Kwak.

JKB sponsors Brian Goff, athletic director at LTHS, and Matt Eber, assistant athletic director, also hosted the breakfast.

Susan Brown from the kitchen staff donated her time and expertise. Linda Curry was able to secure more than 20 donated baskets that were put on auction.

Pantry extends hours

BOLINGBROOK — Power Connection, at 999 Remington Blvd., Suite F, has extended its hours.

The food pantry will now be open 1-6:45 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of the month.

For a $20 donation, clients can shop. They also will receive a pre-selected bag of meat.

The weekly food pantry is still open three days a week on Monday (first and third weeks), every Tuesday and every Thursday from
10 a.m. to noon for a $10 donation.

Call 630-679-6899 or visit www.thepowerconnection.org.