TO GIVE, TO INSPIRE | Hurricane Relief

IN THE EYE OF THE STORMS Our country has just been overwhelmed with mass destruction by multiple hurricane landfalls in these past few months. This is a personal subject for me, as I spent a lot of my growing up years in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands at my grandparent’s home – now an island that will never look the way I remembered it. In times like this, I am always astounded by the hearts of the people not affected and their efforts to provide relief efforts for their fellow man.

I found so many of our local businesses that got involved in the efforts. One Downers Grove business, Romexterra Construction, Fire and Water Damage Restoration took it upon themselves to collect supplies needed for Hurricane Harvey victims and loaded up their own trucks. Nick Duta (owner) and his sons, Alex and David, drove their two trucks down themselves. Nick Popescu, owner of Hermes NVC Trucking, generously donated a semi-truck and a driver to their efforts, and they began collecting for Hurricane Irma before it even hit. Fox Fire Steakhouse in Geneva was another local business that quickly got the wheels rolling and put together a fundraising dinner at their restaurant.

A unique effort coming out of the City of Aurora and Illinois Prairie School District 204, was originally created by Stephen Howser’s sons, Ashton, Bryce, Camden and Vaughn. Last year, they created an organization called Supply Bucket that collected re-purposed school supplies for families in need.

When Hurricane Harvey hit, they used the program to collect school supplies for the students in Houston. Seventeen schools housed bins to collect supplies, and Mayor Irvin and the City of Aurora donated trucks and warehouses to help organize, pack and ship over 200,000 supplies.

You may be thinking, what can I do? There really are a ton of options out there. American Red Cross and Hand in Hand are frantically raising funds for all the efforts as well as training volunteers to travel and help. There are many Go Fund Me Pages for all the different areas in need, including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. If you would prefer to send actual supplies, you can check with your local Red Cross offices and also find wish lists on Amazon.com for Red Cross that allows you to ship exactly what they need.

Mindy’s November Giving Inspiration: Our humanity keeps us strong. Keep a look out for local businesses and efforts to help support our recent victims of natural disasters and tragic events. Or start one of your own.

ABOUT THE WRITER Mindy Kyle is the owner of Be Inspired Studios and is passionate about helping people discover what brings them joy and to live a full, healthy and happy life. She has her Masters in Fine Arts degree in creative writing from DePaul University and lives in Naperville with her husband, three children and the cutest dog in the land.

#GlancerMagazine #CaringSharing #ToGiveToInspire #FeaturedBlog #FeaturedBlogger #MindyKyle #December12017 #AmericanRedCross #HandInHand