Gold coin found in Salvation Army kettle in Geneva
A gold coin valued at $2,000 was found this week in a Salvation Army red kettle outside the Starbucks store at 229 W. State St. in Geneva.
The 1-ounce, 2003 $50 American Gold Eagle coin is the second of the holiday season to be donated at a location benefiting the Salvation Army Tri-City Corps Community Center, which assists people in Geneva, Batavia, St. Charles and central Kane County, a news release said.
The first, a gold coin valued at $1,800 to 1,900, was dropped in a kettle outside a Jewel-Osco on Stearns Road in Bartlett on Nov. 28.
Red kettle donations stay in area where they are made, and several locations in the Chicago suburban area have received gold and silver coins and gold bars this year and in years past. Among the coin donation sites this year are Naperville, Mundelein, Crystal Lake, Huntley, Round Lake and Chicago.
“We are so excited to be doubly blessed by this second gold coin,” Lt. Scott Smith, corps officer for the Salvation Army Tri-City Corps, said of the coin found Monday. “We are continually overwhelmed by the generosity of our community.”
This year has been particularly hard for the Salvation Army and other nonprofit social service organizations because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a much higher number of people seeking help and fewer people able to provide donations, officials said.
“The Salvation Army launched the Rescue Christmas campaign nearly two months early in 2020 to meet the significant increase in need,” the release said. “Some Salvation Army locations in Chicagoland have seen as much as a fivefold increase in requests for food and emergency assistance since the start of the pandemic.
COVID testing being offered at ECC Saturday, Sunday
The Illinois Department of Public Health’s mobile testing unit will be doing free COVID-19 testing Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 12-13, at Elgin Community College, the Kane County Health Department said.
Tests will be done from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1700 Spartan Drive while supplies last, the county news release said. Testing is suggested for anyone who may have been exposed to the virus, regardless of symptoms.
A phone number and name are required in order to receive testing results but a photo ID is not needed.
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Because it is a drive-thru testing procedure, the person being tested must be seated at functioning vehicle window and no one will be allowed to exit their car, the release said.
Test results should be available withing four to 7 calendar days.
There is also a free drive-through and walk-up COVID-19 testing site at 2450 N. Farnsworth Ave. in Aurora that is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week. Testing is free and available to all, although anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.