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Selected and nominated charities

Meeting: November 19, 2020

Thank you for giving!  

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This was our tenth meeting and the second one on Zoom!  We had a great turnout and thank everyone for attending and giving so generously to both of our selected charities -- Normal Moments and the Northfield Township Food Pantry.   

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The close vote between Normal Moments, which came out on top, and the Northfield Township Food Pantry prompted 31 members to donate to each charity. 

 

  • 54 people donated a total of $5,286 to Normal Moments

  • 36 women donated a total of $3,370 to the Northfield Township Food Pantry.  Additionally, we dropped off an SUV load of food and large size children's diapers which are always in short supply to the Food Pantry.   

  • 3 members donated a total of $200 to Our House of Hope Rescue, which received our donations of pet food, and another donated $100 to Girl Forward, a previously selected charity. .

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Additional thanks go to talented seamstress Sherry Brick who sewed another 60 masks for past recipient Antioch Traveling Closet.  Fun fact:  Sherry has sewed over 640 masks for charities, family, and friends --  gratis.  

Selected Charity: Normal Moments

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Nominated by Dia Morgan

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Normal Moments was founded in March, 2007 by Melissa Fragen and her mother, Patricia, near the end of Melissa’s battle with metastatic osteosarcoma (cancer that starts in the bone and grows out into the soft tissues) in response to a conversation between mother and daughter.

 

This chat was oddly about what was “good” about a 2-year cancer battle, even when the battle was clearly lost. And what was actually good? It was the people…the people who they never knew would play such a critical role in their lives.

 

It was the only person Patricia knew who had experienced the trauma of sitting by the side of a child in a coma, struggling to simply survive.

 

It was the long-distance friend who sent a cleaning service because she understood the challenge of simply continuing to put your feet on the floor every day and getting through.

 

It was the neighbor who got up early to clear the snow from the driveway on their clinic day.

 

And above all, it was Melissa’s private music teacher, David, who stepped in to be their “everything” – caregiver to the dogs during extended hospital stays, house-sitter, tether to the “real world”, confessor, distraction, and so much more.

 

Melissa said “Everyone deserves a David”. Patricia responded, after only a moment’s pause, “We can do that”, and Normal Moments was born.

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Normal Moments is devoted to supporting parents with critically ill children in the home, in the hospital, and via web resources so that they can spend as much time as possible sharing the most normal moments possible with their children.

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Sandy Wagman and Tricia Fragen, founder of Normal Moments. Yes, in the time of COVID-19 we now meet in the parking lot to give our donations! 

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Sandy meeting with Jill Brickman, Northfield Township Supervisor, and Gayle Curcio, Community Coordinator of the Food Pantry 

Runner-Up Charity: Northfield Township Food Pantry

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Nominated by Kristine Voelker

 

The Northfield Township Food Pantry was started close to 50 years ago to assist Township residents who are unable to provide enough food for themselves and their families. In April 2003, the Pantry became a 501c3 organization and an agency of the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

 

Today, many hundreds of Township families are eligible to visit the Pantry to receive perishable and non-perishable food items and grocery store cards. In the time of COVID-19, the Pantry serves approximately 950 families, up from 650 at the beginning of the year.

 

No tax dollars are used to supply the Pantry. The Pantry is sustained entirely by residents, civic organizations, schools, businesses, and the faith community who generously donate food items, grocery store cards, and cash.

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