Sunday, November 25, 2012
Jen Rubino, 17, a high school senior, has braved two dozen surgeries so far. After one, a kind act inspired her to start a charity that has mushroomed, gained celebrity endorsements and helped children in unimaginable pain.
- VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS
- Pam DeFiglio
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Sunday, November 25, 2012
As an 11-year-old with a chronic illness, Jen Rubino was having a dark day. She'd had her 13th surgery, and she was lying in a hospital bed, in pain. When she received a handmade greeting card saying "stay strong" from a volunteer she never met, she says it made a world of difference to know that others were pulling for her to make it--and it really did help her to stay strong. Now 17, Rubino, of Park Ridge, a senior at Maine South High School, has founded a charity to give other seriously ill kids that sense of hope and caring she says the card meant to her. Though Rubino struggles with chronic pain every day, she has managed, through Cards for Hospitalized Kids, to help 10,200 kids in hospitals in many states, helped by endorsements …
Friday, April 13, 2012
The latest honoree in Patch's Greatest Person series honors someone who directs traffic, is constantly on call to help in emergencies and will soon be directing operations for the Niles Police VIPS team--and all on a volunteer basis.
If there's a tornado, flood or other emergency in Niles, Ron Neukirch might knock on your door and help you disconnect your gas or electricity to keep you safe. If a truck spills a hazardous substance on the street, Neukirch might be directing traffic around it. If a bad storm knocks out traffic lights, he might be driving around placing flares at intersections. Or, he might be teaching other volunteers. "Ron has good people skills, good organizational skills and good natural leadership skiils," said Niles Police Sgt. Ron Brandt. "He has emerged as a natural leader of the group." That would be the CERTS (Community Emergency Response Team) group, made up of trained volunteers who are on call to assist the police department in extraordinary …
Monday, January 23, 2012
Area eateries competed Thursday night in an effort to raise funds to help needy students at Niles North and Niles West High School.
Traci-Larson Lee juggles a lot of things as a mother of five. From hosting an Italian exchange student at her home to rescuing local troubled dogs to working full-time at her job at nonprofit AFS-USA. Yet among her many goals is helping hungry and homeless students at Niles North and Niles West High School through District 219's Education Foundation for Excellence. The Education Foundation is a nonprofit charitable organization that aims to provide additional resources outside the scope of the regular school district budget. When brainstorming for creative ideas to generate funds to help hungry students, Lee came up with the idea of Pizza Wars! nearly two years ago. Fast forward to today, and the center of the pizza world was at Niles West…
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Augie Genovesi is coaching his 35th season at Notre Dame College Prep with the state-ranked Dons.
For Augie Genovesi, coaching is a way of life, and the skills he teaches his wrestlers at Notre Dame College Prep are crucial to their success both on and off the mat. “If you can get a kid to believe in himself, you can get him to do anything,” said Genovesi, head wrestling coach and assistant athletic director at the Catholic boys' high school in Niles. Genovesi puts his wrestlers through a mentally and physically demanding regimen that, he says, approximates the rigors of real life. He has watched his wrestlers transform from boys into men and become successful doctors, businessmen and military leaders. Earlier: Dons Take Crown At Wrestling Tournament “I tell them, ‘someday you’ll get out into the work world, and are you gonna quit if …
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The couple's community involvement was so strong that VIP voters could not honor one without the other, so they both won as a team.
Jim and Yvette Karp are such a power couple, so intertwined in their community involvement, that dividing the baby was the only way the Morton Grove Chamber of Commerce could award its VIP of 2011 award Thursday at the chamber’s holiday party at Giordano’s. “We poll nominations from the entire community, not just our members,” said chamber Executive Director Jacky Liston. “There were probably 10 solid candidates that were voted on. Earlier: Chamber of Commerce Party Highlights Optimism on Economic Recovery “In our board meeting, someone said, 'there are a lot of votes for Jim, a lot of votes for Yvette. They’re really a team. So let’s just divide it,'” Liston said. And so the Karps, identified with the Morton Grove Foundation charity and …
42.038171
-87.779674
Morton Grove Chamber of Commerce and Industry
6101 Capulina Ave, Morton Grove, IL
/articles/two-winners-better-than-one-so-jim-yvette-karp-earn-chamber-s-vip-of-2010-award
1855473
/locations/6042271
Monday, December 5, 2011
Please help us choose our Athlete of the Week, Nov. 28 - Dec. 4: New Trier's Samantha Stoddart, Niles North's Mariyah Henley, Evanston's Josh Irving, Glenbrook North's Corey Kahen and Niles West's Ahmad Gibson.
Nearly 10,000 votes were cast to make Erin Purdy last week's Athlete of the Week. The following nominees for our region's Patch Athlete of the Week, Nov. 28- Dec. 4: Samantha Stoddart, freshman, girls gymnastics, New Trier – Making her debut at the high-school level, Stoddart won the all-around competition in a dual meet against Niles North with a combined score of 34.85 over four events. Stoddart also took first in the uneven parallel bars (8.6) and floor exercise (9.1). Mariyah Henley, senior, basketball center, Niles North – After eclipsing the 1,000-point mark for her career last week, Henley continued her scoring onslaught by dropping 36 points in Niles North’s 57-47 loss to New Trier on Nov. 29. Henley’s 36 points tied a career high…
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Almost 10,000 votes were cast during Patch's week-long poll; see who came out on top.
Patch Athlete of the Week, Nov. 21- Nov. 27: Erin Purdy is this week's Patch Athlete of the Week. Garnering about 56 percent of the vote, Purdy topped a deep field that included local basketball and football players. There were nearly 10,000 votes, but Purdy's state championship win in diving gave her the edge and made her this week's winner. See last week's nominees HONORABLE MENTION Dashae Shumate, sophomore, basketball forward, Niles West – The dynamic sophomore forward scored a season-high 22 points in Niles West’s 73-57 victory over defending state runner-up Zion Benton in the Deerfield Thanksgiving Challenge on Nov. 21. Shumate scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and should be a second scoring option to Jewell Loyd for Niles West…
Friday, December 2, 2011
Dr. Katie Bertoglio highlights a different charity every week, utilizing social media to encourage donations.
At first glance, the Morton Grove Animal Hospital looks like any other animal hospital. Inside a few cats roam around and nuzzle next to your feet while a client sits in the waiting area with his black Labrador Retriever, ready for a check-up. But if you look close enough you’ll notice a sign on the reception desk that makes this hospital unique. It reads: “Charity of the Week.” Dr. Katie Bertoglio has been working at the Morton Grove Animal Hospital for 11 years and has co-owned it with her husband for the past three, keeping pets healthy along the way. But it was this past February when she got the idea to help other animals in need, and people, on a larger scale. Bertoglio decided to start a charity of the week program at the animal …
42.0473
-87.79927
Morton Grove Animal Hospital
9128 Waukegan Rd, Morton Grove, IL
/articles/vet-helps-others-give-a-little-in-a-big-way
291687
/locations/5931630
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Students and faculty at Oakton Community College set up shanties to try and simulate what being homeless is all about.
With his nose running, Nick Frankel was setting up a shanty last week at Oakton Community College trying to get an idea as to what it would be like to be homeless for a night. Thursday’s cold temperatures and biting winds brought a bitter sense of realism to the estimated 730,000 people who are homeless each night across America. “The whole purpose is to simulate the experience of being homeless. In our own small way we are relating to them and that is the purpose of this,” Frankel said. “We want to take a mile in their shoes and understand what they go through on a day to day basis and step outside our own comfort zone. “ Frankel, the founding student of the Oakton chapter of Habitat for Humanity, was part of a group of 40 students and …
42.020877
-87.750903
Oakton Community College Skokie Campus
7701 Lincoln Ave, Skokie, IL
/articles/oakton-students-go-homeless-on-purpose
1845439
/locations/8212640
Joe LoVerde
7:45 pm on Thursday, November 22, 2012
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