The Village of Oak Park has asked Oak Park Catholic parishes to consider opening a temporary shelter location for those staying at the West Cook YMCA and The Carleton of Oak Park Hotel.
It is not hyperbole to say that Oak Park would not be the progressive village we know today without the countless contributions and unwavering commitment of people such as Galen Gockel. Gockel, 91, died Tuesday after a period of declining health.His longstanding dedication to the community has made an indelible impact on politics, education and the arts, as well as social justice. He served as a role model for public service not only because of what he did, but how he did it, with humility, generosity and integrity.
For a little more than a year, a dedicated team of volunteers from Oak Park’s four Catholic parishes have been working with Father Carl Morello and the Oak Park and Austin communities to discern the next stage of life for the St. Catherine-St. Lucy rectory building on Austin Avenue at Washington Boulevard.
For nearly two decades, Downtown Oak Park has offered the Shopper’s Reward Program to encourage people to shop local, driving sales to area businesses during Christmas and through the start of the new year.Shoppers who spent $500 from Nov. 1 through Christmas – and paid at least $25 at seven or more of 86 participating downtown businesses – can redeem their receipts for local coupons. Through March 15, when shoppers turn in their receipts to the Downtown Oak Park Office at 1010 Lake Street, they receive a booklet of five, $10-coupons. Each shopper can collect up to three booklets to redeem at 52 of those 86 businesses through March 15 (larger retailers like Target and Trader Joe’s don’t accept the rebates).
Children visiting the Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society’s Children’s Clinic leave with gifts more valuable and long-lasting than the typical stickers or suckers. Each child has the opportunity to take home and keep one to two new or gently used books from the society’s warm and cheery library. And with a recent donation of 500 books from Dominican University’s Rebecca Crown Library, they will have a lot more books to choose from. “One of the things that those of us who are not trained in any of the medical fields can do to help promote IWS’s mission is to focus on this library,” said Nancy Van Der Griend, chair of IWS’s volunteer-led Giving Library Committee. “Connecting children with books and developing a love of reading is one of the ways we can help kids thrive, complete school and have the kinds of life we hope they will have.” “It’s not often that children look forward to going to the doctor or dentist but our library, which is bright and colo