Above / During a special luncheon on Nov. 14, 2017, DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin reminisced how he had arranged with Mayor Steve Chirico to do a volunteer service project at Loaves & Fishes Community Services in Naperville when the Do GOOD DuPage Campaign was launched in August. Do GOOD DuPage aims to inspire 150,000 volunteers.
As promised, DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin and Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico brought elected officials together for a holiday packing event at Loaves & Fishes in the spirit of Do GOOD DuPage…
UPDATE / Nov. 14, 2017 / Elected officials representing the State of Illinois, DuPage County, the City of Naperville and Giving DuPage gathered together for a luncheon and holiday packing event at Loaves & Fishes Community Services in Naperville. After introductions by Loaves & Fishes CEO/President Mike Havala, a video provided a personal testimonial of the life-changing Loaves & Fishes experience.
Next up, officials took turns packing items for Thanksgiving dinner and taking tours throughout the facility for the anti-poverty, hunger-relief agency. Loaves & Fishes helps provide food, leadership services and hope for families struggling in the Naperville and DuPage County community.
PHOTO GALLERY / Click any snapshot to enlarge.
[shareprints gallery_id=”80120″ gallery_type=”squares” gallery_position=”pos_center” gallery_width=”width_100″ image_size=”small” image_padding=”0″ theme=”dark” image_hover=”false” lightbox_type=”slide” titles=”true” captions=”true” descriptions=”true” comments=”true” sharing=”true”]The common comment from the officials present was gratitude for the spirit of giving this season and every day. Chairman Cronin thanked all the volunteers at Loaves & Fishes and everyone who is doing good throughout DuPage County, crediting Shefali Trivedi for sending the DuPage County Board on “an extraordinary mission.”
Trivedi, executive director of Giving DuPage, launched the Do GOOD DuPage Campaign in August, an initiative she dreamed up in 2015 to inspire 150,000 volunteers to do-good by the end of June 2018.
Original Post, Aug. 8, 2017 / Wheaton – Imagine what would happen if an entire county “did good” for an entire year?
To promote the possibility, Giving DuPage hosted a special meeting on August 8 and welcomed leaders from across the County to become Do GOOD Champions during festivities in Goodwin Hall at Benedictine University.
Guests included DuPage Mayors; Choose DuPage members; school leaders; Chambers of Commerce, faith and community leaders; as well as the DuPage County Board and other elected officials that serve DuPage County in Springfield. Naperville was well represented.
With a big on-screen presence in a YouTube video, DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin challenged the greater community to get involved as he and Giving DuPage launch the County’s biggest service campaign – Do GOOD DuPage.
The year-long initiative promotes community service throughout the County, aiming to involve 150,000 people. Leaders challenge everyone to sign up, do good deeds, share the experience and get others involved.
Giving DuPage serves as County’s Volunteer Center
As the County’s Volunteer Center, the Giving DuPage mission is to promote giving and volunteering. An average of four volunteers connect to more than 350 local nonprofit organizations every day via their online Volunteer Portal site. To commemorate its 15-year anniversary, Giving DuPage wants to take this mission to a new level by inspiring hundreds of thousands of people to do some good.
“I’m inviting everyone to get involved to Do GOOD DuPage,” Cronin said. “We’re looking for families to create great memories by volunteering together and for schools to make service their motto. We want faith and community leaders to inspire their members to put donation at the top of their weekly list of things to do, whether it be donating their time, talents or treasure. I’d like to see business and civic leaders join me in friendly competition to outdo each other in doing good for our communities.”
Cronin added that he and Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico already were planning a holiday box-packing event on November 14.
Taking note, Downers Grove Mayor Martin Tully agreed that he’s inspired to compete and “to out do a room of do gooders.”
“There is nothing better than bringing communities together in an effort to help others,” noted Nicki Anderson, President & CEO of the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. “Not only does Giving DuPage connect nonprofits with volunteers, now they are offering communities a chance to come together, give back and create stronger, healthier communities.”
Anderson then added, “In a time where good news is sporadic, we are able to create our own good news every single day. Hopefully this mindset will continue far beyond the Do GOOD DuPage campaign. The Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce is proud to be involved in this initiative.”
Choice of 15 Service Categories
There are 15 service ideas that people can sign up for in the following categories: Volunteering, Donating Items, Creating Awareness or Celebrating Volunteers. Some of the ideas are easy and some involve more time or effort, with an end goal for each idea. For example, one idea asks 1,500 people to find a new nonprofit organization they didn’t know about before and write an article to create some awareness for that cause. The article can be shared in their school, church newsletter or published on social networks.
Paul Feith, Giving DuPage Board president is convinced that during the Do GOOD DuPage, everyone will find something to do.
“Each person can donate their time or services and everybody has talents or skills to make a positive difference in our community,” Feith said. “Whether you are eight years old or 80 years old, you have a gift to contribute and we want to do our best to connect you to a cause that is waiting to receive those gifts.”
Sign up, keep track & share Do GOOD DuPage experiences for biggest year ever
“The process to sign up is easy. Do-GOODers begin their journey by choosing an idea. Then, they do their service project. Next, tell us about it and share their Do GOOD story and the last step is to invite family, friends and co-workers to join us,” said Shefali Trivedi, executive director of Giving DuPage. “We don’t want to hamper your creativity by telling you how to do good, so the last idea is to ‘create your own’ project. If you’re already a Do-GOODer, skip straight to telling us your impact story so we can share it.”
All year, Giving DuPage wants to hear about volunteer and donor experiences. Everyone is encouraged to share their Do GOOD stories on social networks using the hashtag #DoGOODDuPage. There will be ongoing community news and a featured blog to capture inspirational stories of the County’s Do-GOODers.
“Do GOOD DuPage will show the state and the country the generosity of our community,” said DuPage County Board member and Giving DuPage Board member Robert Larsen. “It isn’t going to be about what one person did, but how we all can do so much good together. It’s a great way to celebrate 15 years of Giving DuPage and I’m pretty sure we’ll all look back next year with pride on what we will have accomplished.”
To sign up for Do GOOD DuPage, visit givingdupage.org/doGOOD. Follow the initiative and connect to Do GOOD stories at #DoGOODDuPage.
For more information, or to support this campaign, email givingdupage@dupageco.org or call (630) 407-6458.
Note: To see a video about the campaign, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2TDqnLMZ7k.
Story submitted by Evan Shields, Public Information Officer, DuPage County Board. PN Update and PN Photos.
