Friends and supporters of Karen Moloney showed the Naperville Dairy Queen owner how much she has meant to them Sunday by holding an annual suicide prevention fundraiser she was too ill to put on herself this year.
Moloney’s life changed forever in 2011 after an employee, 17-year-old Jonathan Kaden, committed suicide. It prompted her to start an annual golf outing in his memory to raise money for the Chicago-based Hope for the Day program.
This year, Moloney was unable to hold the event because she is battling cancer. So friends and neighbors gathered at Moloney’s 1817 Wehrli Road store to hold a benefit for the cause to which she had devoted many hours.
“This was something we just had to do after knowing Karen for years,” neighbor Judy Koziol, of Naperville, said. “We started having conversations when I’d visit her store, and when I heard she was sick last winter, I went and visited her. She said the doctors told her matter-of-factly that she had less than two years to live and had better get her affairs in order. My thoughts were, ‘Oh my God, we have to do something.'”
Koziol, joined by neighbors Debbie DelGrosso and Dee Dee Porter, organized the “Dilly Bar” fundraiser, a name borrowed from Moloney’s Dilly Bar Annual Golf Outing.
Koziol said Sunday’s event was more about supporting Moloney and promoting suicide awareness than raising money.
“I didn’t want Karen to leave us without knowing how people felt about her,” she said. “All you have to do is mention her name, and people and friends know about her everywhere you go. Everyone feels bad. And there has been this universal feeling among all of us that says we can do this.”
Moloney “has been a fixture in the area for 20 years,” DelGrosso said. She remembers Moloney being part of ice cream socials held at a local elementary school years ago.
“She’s always been part of the fabric of community life,” DelGrosso said. “About a month ago, we started putting this all together and reaching out to the community. The response has been overwhelming.”
Sunday’s two-hour program included a musical performance by the Chorelles, Naperville Central High School’s a capella group, and appearances by local Cub Scout and Boy Scout troops, Mayor Steve Chirico and WGN meteorologist Tom Skilling.
The event was emceed by baiduhai columnist Rex Huppke, who wrote about Moloney and is credited with giving the neighbors the idea for the fundraiser.
Moloney, 60, was able to attend Sunday’s event at the store she bought in 2001 and now shares with her sister.
“I used to date a guy that owned an ice cream shop and I thought, why don’t I do that?” Moloney said. “This has changed my life, becoming part of this community in ways I never could have imagined. … Regarding this event today, I’m overwhelmed and humbled beyond words.”
Hope for the Day founder and CEO Jonny Boucher said he found Moloney “amazing from the time we first met.”
“We kept running into one another at a number of these suicide awareness programs and we wanted to help her do what she wanted to do, which is equip people and embrace this communication before an unfortunate event,” Boucher said.
Abbey Geraci, 22, of Naperville, said she knew Kaden in school and admired Moloney’s efforts following his death.
“I know (Moloney) has always supported good causes and she’s had big role in raising money for awareness,” Geraci said.
Sue Tam, of Schaumburg, was one of many relatives who attended the event Sunday. She said she was proud of her cousin and left “speechless” by what she has accomplished.
“When we heard about Karen’s illness, it was this big punch in the gut,” Tam said. “Bringing awareness to this suicide issue is a big thing as it really hits home, but we’ve all come together today because of her.”
Chirico said Sunday’s effort reinforces “what Naperville is all about.”
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“This is a sad situation but people here continually pull together, which is exactly what a community should do,” Chirico said. “I know that Karen has done so much in her own right in terms of raising awareness about suicide. I’m sure she’s proud of what she’s done, but my feeling is Karen probably doesn’t think she’s done anything special. I’m sure her knowing the lives she’s touched must bring her comfort. I know it would me.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.