How to Help Victims of the Oklahoma Tornado

Donating money to organizations that help victims is quick and easy.

Americans across the country are reacting with shock to the devastation caused by a 2-mile wide Tornado in Oklahoma. Dozens have died, and President Obama has declared the path of the tornado a major disaster area.  If you would like to help, you can do so from your computer or mobile device right now. Patch will be posting stories of locals who are working to help victims from afar. If you know of someone local was affected by the tornado or who is working to help the victims, please contact your local editor.

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Interested in Volunteering for DuPage County?

The County is providing Public Health Emergency Preparedness Training and is seeking interested people to participate. Anyone over the age of 18 is welcome.

The Village of Woodridge is partnering with the DuPage County Health Department in the search for volunteers. The County is providing Public Health Emergency Preparedness Training and is seeking interested people to participate. Anyone over the age of 18 is welcome. Volunteers will be trained in basic response activities related to public health emergencies, specifically related to a bio-terrorism event.  No special expertise is required. All are invited to attend the training and become better prepared in the event of a disaster. The Public Health Emergency Preparedness Training will be held: REGISTER TODAY AT www.dupagehealth.org/training Click HERE for more details on the event.  For more information contact Jeremy Hirst, Emergency …

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Volunteer for Clean-Up the Parks Day

Volunteers are still needed for the April 14 event.

Want an easy way to help out the community?  Volunteer for the 2012 Community Clean-up the Parks Day. You'll spend three hours on April 14 cleaning up one of Woodridge's many beautiful parks. The event is from 1 to 4 p.m.  The perks? A job well-done, a T-shirt and recognition in the Woodridge Park District's fall activity guide.  Register by clicking here. You can also register at the Woodridge Park District Community Center. Registration is open through March 16. A park district employee will then contact you with your park location. 

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Calling Interested Woodridge Volunteers

Looking to volunteer more? Find out where the need is at a panel discussion Jan. 23.

Editor's note: The following is an event posted to Woodridge Patch.  Is one of your New Year's Resolutions to get more involved in your community or to somehow give back to it? Do you feel there must be an organization your particular skills would benefit, but you don't know where to find it? Come to a panel discussion on Monday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. in the 2nd floor Mahlke Meeting Room of the Woodridge Public Library. Listen to representatives from several organizations tell how they need and use volunteers to help them provide various kinds of services in Woodridge and beyond. The panel moderator will be Kathy Blair, Executive Director of Giving DuPage, an umbrella organization for not-for-profit groups in DuPage County. Other speakers from…

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Volunteers Priceless at West Suburban Community Pantry

West Suburban Community Pantry relies on volunteers to keep the Pantry shelves stocked, organized and clients happy.

The 150 volunteers at the West Suburban Community Pantry donate close to 20,000 hours each year. “This place simply wouldn’t run without them,” said Roger Schmith, founder and Director of Operations at West Suburban Community Pantry (WSCP). “They run this place and keep it running.” The volunteers pick up donations, sort and shelve food, fill orders and assist clients. Some are even behind the scenes writing grant applications, press releases and doing clerical work. The WSCP, located at 6809 Hobson Valley Drive in Woodridge, currently serves 4,000 people per month. “We have been super busy over the past two years due to the economy,” Schmith said. He doesn’t see it slowing down at all. “We are still getting 125 new clients each and every …

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Giving Back: American Red Cross, Scarecrow 5K, Teaching Opportunities

There are plenty of ways around the area to volunteer and contribute to society. Below, some upcoming opportunities.

WHAT: ESL Teaching Opportunity WHERE: St. Joseph Services, Bolingbrook WHEN: 12:45 to 3:15 p.m. Thursdays through Nov. 3 WHY HELP: Volunteers are needed to help teach basic English skills to adult students. Assigned classroom workbooks will be provided, and volunteers will have orientation and observe a class before teaching. REQUIRED SKILLS: Volunteers must be older than 18 and make a minimum six-month commitment, with at least two hours of in-class class and a half-hour of preparation per week. A 10-hour online training will be required. Volunteers also should be prepared to shadow two classes prior to teaching, and must provide a copy of their resume and two professional references. Volunteers also need to pass a background check and be…

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Good Deeds

Park District Campers Volunteer at Feed My Starving Children

Twenty-five campers and their nine adult leaders volunteered July 27.

Woodridge Park District campers got a chance to help feed their peers across the globe last month. Twenty-five Trek and Travel campers and their nine adult leaders spent two hours at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora July 27. Along with two other volunteer groups, they helped package 14,040 meals, enough to feed 39 children for a year. The rice meals are distributed to children around the world. The experience was the first group service project for some of the campers. “It was fun, and I felt good that I helped people," said Camper Nick Szott in a park district release. Camper Tyler Rosen said in the release he realized there were children in the world without food. “The starving children are grateful for any food they receive,” Rosen …

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The Cool Kids I'll Be Hangin' With Today and Tomorrow

Meet Amanda and Kyle, the two student leaders for our Disney group at Operation Snowball.

Today's the day! I rose bright and early at 5:30 a.m. and headed to Camp Duncan in Ingleside for the North/South Operation Snowball. While there, I'll be hanging out with about a dozen District 99 students, my awesome co-adult leader Lauren Aramburu and Amanda and Kyle, my two small group leaders. There are hundreds of students at the event, but I'll spend most of my time with my small group, which is Disney-themed. As I've written before, Operation Snowball is a two-day retreat fostering community, self-esteem and genuine happiness. I'll be playing name games, doing team-building activities and otherwise trying not to get in trouble on the YMCA Camp (because I'm the "adult" now). To learn more about Snowball, check out this feature. I'm …

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Bringing Up Woodridge

Five Ways to Get Back on Santa's "Nice" List

Think you're on the "naughty" list? It's not too late!

Christmas is five days away – do you know where you stand on Santa's Naughty or Nice list?  Think about it. Maybe somebody cut you off in traffic and you gave them a not-so-polite gesture. Maybe you snuck through the 10 items or less lane with 12 items. Or, maybe, just maybe, you were at a hockey game and you may have called the ref a bad word when he waived off your son's goal because the net got knocked off. (Not that I know anything about that.) If you feel like you are safe and sound on the nice list, good for you. But if you aren't so sure and think you may find a lump of coal in your stocking, rest easy. It's not too late to work your way off the Naughty List.

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Woodridge Residents Volunteering More in 2010 Than in the Past

More people reported volunteering in 2010 than any year in the past ten years, according to Woodridge's Community Needs survey.

Woodridge residents volunteered more in 2010 than in 2009, and more people volunteered in 2010 than in the past ten years, according to Woodridge's Community Needs survey. According to the survey, 36.8 percent of respondents said they volunteered a certain number of hours each month. That number is the highest percentage of the data collected since 2000. Last year, 30.8 percent of respondents said that they spent time each month volunteering. Of those who responded to the 2010 survey, 19.5 percent said they volunteered one to four hours a month, 7.2 percent said they volunteered five to eight hours a month and 10.2 percent said they volunteered nine or more hours a month. Each of those numbers were higher than in 2009. You can check out a …

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