10:00am – 3:00pm

Shopping, Free Gift Wrapping, Arts & Crafts, Sweet Treats, Fun for the whole family! (FLYER)

Discover Oak Park’s best kept secret…Southtown!  Local businesses will be waiting to share holiday cheer with you!

SOUTHTOWN

South Oak Park Avenue Between Lexington St. and Van Buren St.

One of our elementary school students has been battling a disease called Severe Aplastic Anemia for the past seven years. This disease causes the bone marrow to stop making enough red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets for the body. The student’s condition has progressed to the point where she needs a bone marrow transplant, and they have been unable to find a donor. In an effort to help find a donor and to increase the number of donors available to other families, please consider adding yourself to the Bone Marrow Registry by offering a cheek swab or blood sample.

Please read the information in the Join the Registry section of http://marrow.org to see if you are eligible to donate and to find out more details on the actual donation process, which varies depending on the need. (You must be between 18-60 and there are medical guidelines to consider.)

Here is the information on the next Bone Marrow Drive, which is at Triton College this Thursday, November 17, 2011:

Triton College
2000 5th Avenue
River Grove, IL 60171

Drive Date: November 17, 2011
Drive Time: 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM

All you need to do is:

• Complete a registration form with contact information, health information and a signed agreement to join the Be The Match Registry. To help you complete the form, bring along:
• Personal identification (such as a driver’s license or passport)
• Contact information for two family members or friends who would know how to reach you in the future if your contact information changes.
• Give either a swab of cheek cells or a blood sample to be tissue-typed. They will use the results to match you to patients.

That’s it! You’ll be listed on the registry where patients turn to when they need a matching donor.

The following link will let you find a drive closer to your work, school, family and friends who are not around or live out of town. It also gives more information on the process of donating the bone marrow itself. http://marrow.org/Join/Join_in_Person/Join_in_Person.aspx

Thank you for considering this life-saving donation.

November 4th, 2011

Dear District 97 Families,

This Thanksgiving you will likely be thankful for your children, their education, and the myriad of opportunities for their health and happiness in Oak Park. And perhaps you will make a resolution to do more with your family and your community this season by volunteering for those in need. But where to start? How to contribute in the midst of work obligations, school, and extracurricular commitments?  Where to find something meaningful, enjoyable, and impacting without being burdensome? Look no further.

Now introducing The Giving Project. A combination of former service clubs MANNKind and Giving Path, we have formed as a children’s community service non-profit organization.  Our mission is simple: To inspire our children to be better citizens of the world; to provide hands-on, hands-together community service that transforms their heart and soul; and to enrich their learning with civic responsibility, social justice, and charitable action.

We are parents like you. Parents eager to show our kids, share with them, all the positive impact community service can have: boost self-esteem, build leadership, and nurture caring, compassionate citizens. Our children will gain practical and organizational skills, develop critical thinking and problem-solving, and increase communication and collaboration amongst their peers. All while simultaneously helping those in need, thinking beyond themselves, and learning a little more about this grand world in which we live!

Every month, The Giving Project provides District 97 families organized activities and events to give back to the community. We are focused on projects that are developmentally appropriate for our youth. Projects that are bite-sized, kid-centered, and genuinely fun! Projects that provide a sense of completion, and thus success. Projects that the children can invent and even implement themselves! With a wide variety of topics ranging from animal care & rescue, hunger, homelessness, to children’s special needs, disaster relief, to taking care of our environment and more, there is always an open opportunity to get involved.

This November, The Giving Project will launch its inaugural “Giving Thanks” event. Kids will gather to write thank you notes to whom they are grateful; to those working in service to our community, or to those that could use a reminder of thanks this season- the firefighters, the doctors, the teachers, the clergy, the clerks that put a smile on your face each day. Details coming soon!

The opportunity arises to affect change where parents should- with our children. Kids learn by doing. Let’s do good, together. Won’t you join The Giving Project?

The Giving Project
Kids Building a Better Local and Global Community

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