If the baby backs, cornbread, cole slaw and lemon shake-ups are dinner, the late-winter lunch gathering can be considered dessert.
More than $500,000 went to 50 local nonprofits recently, thanks to the Exchange Club’s massive annual Ribfest celebration last July. Recipients and club members celebrated the wide-scale funding boost Friday at the Naperville club’s yearly allocations luncheon at Meson Sabika.
“This our Super Bowl,” said Bob Black, the club’s current president. “This is the culmination of everything we do.”
Last year’s four-day celebration of barbecue and music brought in $558,255 in all. Ribfest is the largest fundraising event for the Exchange Club, which works to reduce child abuse and other forms of domestic violence in and around Naperville. A portion of the proceeds cover the club’s programs, including school supplies for low-income children and a holiday adopt-a-family project, but most of it goes to the yearly round of local grants.
“This is why we sweat our butts off at Ribfest, so we can come here today and give you the funds you so desperately need,” Diane Simmons, longtime co chairman of the allocation committee, said to the recipients and club members gathered for the luncheon.
Simmons, one of several Exchange Club members who called the luncheon their favorite day of the year, said most of the nonprofits receive Ribfest money every year, though they must apply each time. The charities receive grants in various sizes.
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“It’s based on their need, their projects, their mission,” Simmons said. “They all in some way aid in the prevention of domestic violence and child abuse.”
Agencies that receive the allocated funds offer a broad range of services related to those causes, including adult day care, after-school education, hunger relief, support for special needs children and their families, sexual assault victim assistance, programs for families living with mental illness, mentoring for teen parents, foster care, pet respite, and prevention of homelessness and substance abuse, among other causes. Each nonprofit provides some of the 4,000 volunteers who make Ribfest possible.
“It’s a fun thing for us,” said Tiana Brazzale, grants administrator for the Ray Graham Association, which helps children and adults with disabilities and their families.
Employees and clients’ family members help out at the event, said Brazzale, who looks forward to her stint as a “beer slinger” every year and said Ray Graham will use this year’s grant to support its children’s respite home.
“It’s a true lifeline. Family members receive respite benefits … so they can take care of a family member who needs medical attention, or go to a funeral,” she said. “But what I really love is when it enables a family to spend some time with their children who don’t have a disability.
“When you talk about strengthening families, it’s a perfect fit for the Exchange Club.”
Representatives from each benefiting charity took a moment at the podium to express their thanks for the funds.
Scott Mitchell, president and CEO of Samaritan Interfaith, said the grant helps the Naperville counseling agency maintain its mission of serving those who need its services, irrespective of their ability to pay. Mitchell shared the story of “Sam,” whose parents had drug issues before his mom died and his dad went to prison, and he wound up living with relatives and developing significant behavior issues.
“Were it not for the free subsidy we received from you, we would not have been able to help Sam with his grief, his acting out,” Mitchell said.
Diane Overgard, project coordinator for ParentsMatter, Too, said the organization that was formed in late 2013 to help families deal with the sharp increase in heroin use by Naperville teens was able to double its curriculum from three weeks to six, because of the Ribfest boost.
Nancy Wiersum, chief advancement officer for 360 Youth Services, related the story of “George,” who was living in his car for seven months before he was placed in an apartment through the agency’s transitional housing program for young adults, and now works two jobs and goes to College of DuPage.
Black, returning to the podium to close out the luncheon, praised the work done by the local nonprofits.
“I just have one word: wow. It’s wonderful to be in the room with all of you and all you do,” he said.
Black commended the groups for giving a voice to those who don’t have one and pledged the Exchange Club’s continued commitment to supporting them with Ribfest proceeds.
“You just make lives better.”
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Children currently living in temporary shelter at Hesed House in Aurora.
Sources: Exchange Club, Teen Parent Connection, YMCA, Naperville Education Foundation, Hesed House
And the winners are…
These agencies received portions of the $506,200 allocated from the funds raised at the Exchange Club’s 2014 Ribfest: Almost Home Kids, Breaking Free, CASA of DuPage, ChildServ, Community Career Center, DuPage PADS, Easter Seals DuPage, Ecumenical Adult Day Care, Education Center, Edward Care Center, Eva Alliance( Take Back the Night), Evangelical Child & Family, Families Helping Families, Family Shelter Service, Fox Valley Hospice, Friends of DuPage County, Gigi’s Playhouse, Hamdard Center, Hesed House, Humanitarian Service Project, Kids Matter, Literacy DuPage, Little Friends, Loaves & Fishes, Mutual Ground, NAMI DuPage, Naperville CARES, Naperville Education Foundation, Naperville Humane Society, Naperville I Search, Our Children’s Homestead, People’s Resource Center, Prevent Child Abuse Illinois, Ray Graham Association, Rebuilding Together, Respite Endowment Foundation, Royal Family Kids Camp, Samaritan Interfaith, Sharing Connections, Start Program, Teen Parent Connection, Visiting Nurse Association, Wayside Cross – Lifespring, WDSRA, Will County Children’s Center, YMCA of Metro Chicago, Younglife, Youth Outlook, 360 Youth Services, YWCA.
By the numbers
137 percent
Increase in DuPage County children living in poverty between 1999 and 2012.
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500
Babies born to teens and adolescents in DuPage County every year.
1,064
Children in Naperville District 203 and Indian Prairie District 204 who take part in the Safe ‘n’ Sound before- and after-school program offered by the Fry Family YMCA.
7,300
Approximate number of students in Districts 203 and 204 who live in households below the poverty level.
50+