2011 CGNL paying it forward

• • • Donated $3000 and 100 turkey dinners to the Cary Grove Food Pantry
    • Sponsored Reach In Reach Out in the Spring and Fall encouraging Random Acts of Kindness to our Police and Firemen in honor of 9/11
    • Donated $1200 to our local PADS sites as well as turkey dinners
    • Served several local families with our Love Your Neighbor Team
    • Assisted Prairie Hill school in packing and moving boxes
    • Served senior families who live in their homes with “Senior Connection”
    • Held 5 Men’s breakfasts to connect men in the community, alternating church locations
    • Held $1 Community car wash to show Random Acts of Kindness
    • Held the Generous It Tea for 160 women
    • Sponsored the Kids Hope mentoring program in 4 local elementary schools
    • Ran 11 lemonade stands to raise money for our Feed the Hungry campaign

  Impact we made in 2010

  • Donated $2500 to the Cary Grove Food Pantry
  • Donated $1200 to our local PADS sites
  • Served several local families with our Love Your Neighbor Team.
  • Donated $500 to St. Barnabas Pre-school 
  • Served senior families who live in their homes with “Senior Connection” 
  • Held 4 Men’s breakfasts to connect men in the community, alternating church locations. 
  • Held 3 Random Acts of Kindness events: Community car washes and coffee give-away. 
  • Financed and introduced Kids Hope to our community.

  Previous Accomplishments 

  • July 2007:  Sponsored 20 Lemonade Stands which raised $2,000 to benefit Habitat for Humanity;
  • August 2007: 
    • Held Habitat for Humanity Walk-A-Thon at Fel-Pro Park in Cary.  This event raised $3000 which was used to help fund the building of a Habitat home in McHenry County
    • Recruited CGNL volunteers to help build, finish and paint this Habitat home; 
  • Fall 2007:  Over 70 CGNL volunteers worked over 400 hours to scrape, prime and paint a complex of apartments in the 600 block of West Main Street. This benefited a Cary resident who already owed back rent and was having difficulty keeping up with the monthly rent.  The landlord worked with CGNL to reduce the debt and it improved the overall look of this high profile apartment complex.  
  • April 2008:  Coordinated a major Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) event.  A total of 791 CGNL volunteers gathered to hand pack rice and nutrient packets at the Algonquin Township Building. These packets were then boxed and shipped to Third World countries to feed malnourished children. This two day effort provided over 193,000 meals which will feed 529 children for one year. Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) is a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding God’s starving children hungry in body and spirit.
  • June 2008:  Worked with the Cary-Grove Food Pantry, Northern Illinois Food Bank and Willow Creek McHenry to distribute over 10,000 lbs. of food to local neighbors in need
  • August 2008: Held the Taste of Cary Grove and raised over $5000 for the Cary Grove Food Pantry. 
  • Summer 2009: Over 30 lemonade stands were held all over Cary and Fox River Grove this year. The Total collected for our "Feed the Hungry campaign" and community needs programs was $3,272. St. Barnabas Church and Evangelical Free also made huge contributions to the"Feed the Hungy fund."
  • September, 2009: Another Taste of Cary Grove has come and gone. What a mark they leave on our Community. We were able to give a wonderful donation to our local food pantry and to the two P.A.D.S. centers in Cary again this year to help feed the hungry.

  Continuing Accomplishments 

  • The CGNL Love Your Neighbor Team has helped out numerous single Mom and families in need of urgent repair but could not afford to pay;
  • The CGNL Senior Connection Team has helped out numerous seniors in need of help. This could be a visit, cutting the grass / other yard work, giving them a ride to shop or doctors appointments, etc;
  • CGNL volunteers have volunteered at PADS facilities in Cary to help provide a night of shelter for the homeless. Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church and Cary United Methodist Church donate the use of their facilities on a weekly basis October through April;
  • Individuals and couples have organized numerous social events to encourage / create relationships. Many relationships have been started and have deepened as people share life together. Various groups of Cary-Grove neighbors gather on a regular basis to fellowship, grow and serve.