Naperville Responds

Thank you, Chef Jimmy Bannos and the Heaven on Seven Staff for helping us raise $6,100!

6 p.m., Sat., Dec. 15 - HELP RAISE THE ROOF! in Pass Christian, Mississippi, for another Naperville Responds house with Nick Ryan, Jack Persin and friends at Ryan-Hill Realty. Fun and festivities will be held at the Judd Kendall VFW. Tickets are $40. Food, fun, live music, auctions, raffles and plenty of holiday festivities. Congratulations, Nick Ryan and Teresa Ryan and associates at Ryan Hill Realty for raising nearly $24,000 at their event! They're headed to Pass Christian on a work mission Jan. 24-28 to help rebuild homes!

4:15 p.m., Oct. 19 - SIX-SCHOOL DISTRICT 204 MIDDLE SCHOOL SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT AT FRONTIER PARK to raise funds for Naperville Responds and Pass Christian schools. This second annual competition is Friday, Oct. 19 at 4:15PM, at Frontier Park, utilizing all three Park District ball fields. Last year two of middle schools played and the game generated a donation of $17,600 for Pass Christian Middle School. See photos of last year's competition on our Event Archive.

11 a.m., Oct. 1 - NAPERVILLE RESPONDS GOLF OUTING is planned for Monday afternoon, Oct. 1. Thanks to the help from Tina and the good folks at the Lantern, this golf outing will be held at Tamarack Golf Club. SAVE THE DATE! Put your foursome together or come solo. Details coming soon. Or if you're in the Lantern or you see Ron Wehrli or Bill Brestal, ask about it!

5-9 p.m., Sept. 20 LIVE ENTERTAINMENT BY JOHNNY B. AND THE CHIP 'N PALS FOR LADIES NITE OUT is planned on Tuesday evening, Sept. 20. Organizers Nick Ryan and John Barbush promise women won't want to miss this spoof billed as a combo of the Chippendales and Disney-type Chipmunks, complete with choreography and music. 5-9PM at Casa Bella Design Center and Ryan Hill Realty, located at 15 W. Jefferson Ave. in downtown Naperville. Refreshments are by Chef by Request. Libation, too. Donations from $25 to $100 and up will be accepted to benefit Naperville Responds. FYI: Folks from Ryan Hill Realty are headed to The Pass in late January/early February 2008 for a week of building another new home in the Gulf Coast city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

7 a.m., Sept. 10 - MAYOR'S GOLF OUTING is Monday, Sept. 10 at White Eagle – (Always 2nd Monday in September, so save the date for 2008, too!) Tee times: 7AM ($225/golfer) and 12:30PM ($250/golfer). Ask about teams of five. For information and reservations, call 355-5800 and ask for Sue Banks, Cindy Kepner or Rosemary Brining.

In addition to Naperville Responds, the Mayor's Golf Outing benefits numerous other charities including YMCA Strong Kids Campaign, Safety Town and Samaritan Interfaith Counseling Center.

6 p.m., Sat., June 23 - THE Party will be among grand opening festivities at Ashwood Park Clubhouse, located along 248th Street, south of 95th Street. THE Party will benefit Naperville Responds. Fox Valley Winery will provide a wonderful sampling of fine wines. National City Mortgage will sponsor Howl and the Moon Dueling Pianos. SAVE THE DATE! $100 per person for a sumptuous dinner and wine. Sponsor Bunches of 8 tickets are available for $1,000. Cash bar, too. Must be 21 to attend. Sue Wehrli, Joe Modaff and Ray Kinney will be on hand to provide many of the howls, laughs and fundraising opportunities as guests duel to raise enough money to build another house in Pass Christian. Details will be coming soon.

5:30 p.m., Thurs., May 24 -The Pavilion at Meson Sabika will host a benefit for Naperville Responds as one of many grand opening events at Hossein Jamali's new venue next to the historic mansion. Tickets are $35 per person, all inclusive. Meson Sabika is located at 1025 Aurora Ave. Reservations can be made by calling 983-3000. Thanks to the generosity of Meson Sabika, this event is a total fundraiser. 100 percent from ticket sales will help build hope and homes in Pass Christian. Live entertainment will be provided by the Allegro!!! String Performance Group and the Chicago Consort.

Currently, Naperville Responds is building its eighth home in Pass Christian, Miss., in cooperation with the Rotary Club of Pass Christian and the Mennonites Disaster Services. To keep up with Naperville Responds, visit "progress" on this Web site. We just added more photos the week of April 16, 2007.

Click here to download the flyer.

7 p.m., Fri., May 18 - Western Springs School of Talent Education will host a strings concert to benefit Naperville Responds. The innovative Allegro!!! String Performance Group will perform at the Naperville Presbyterian Church, located at 943 Sanctuary Lane, right off Rickert Road in Naperville. Admission is $5 per person. A good will offering will be collected as well. Allegro!!! String Performance Group has performed their enchanting music and choreography at Navy Pier, The Drake Hotel, a Bull's game and at the Riverwalk Fine Art Fair. All proceeds from admission will help build help and homes for Naperville Responds.

The innovative Allegro!!! String Performance Group, pictured here at the 2006 Riverwalk Fine Art Fair, will perform for the benefit of Naperville Responds on May 18 and May 24.

6-11 p.m., Sat., Feb. 17 - AUCTION WILL BENEFIT NAPERVILLE RESPONDS The West Suburban Irish will host its 2007 Emerald Dinner on Saturday, February 17, at Seven Bridges Golf Club in Woodridge. It will feature live music by an Irish band, The Ploughboys, delicious food with an Irish theme, a silent auction and raffle, and more!

Ticket prices are: $55.00/person or a table of ten for $500.00. Tickets are limited to 200, and are selling fast!

Please consider donating to the Emerald Dinner silent auction. Proceeds of the Silent Auction will be donated to St. Baldrick's Foundation and to Naperville Responds.

For further information, please contact Mary Corrigan at emerald@wsirish.org.

Tues., Dec. 5 - Women of Naperville Country Club Member/Guest Tea. This year the women of Naperville Country Club have selected Naperville Responds to be the beneficiary of their charitable giving. Every year, club members support a charity as part of their holiday activities. They will host their annual member/guest tea the afternoon of December 5, 2006, including a presentation by Naperville Responds, explaining about the activities and progress to date to help Pass Christian and how the community can continue to help.

In addition to cash donations, 100 percent of which goes to build new homes, the women are planning collect Home Depot, Lowe's and Bed and Bath gift cards for the residents in The Pass as part of their generous fundraising initiative. THANKS FOR THE DONATIONS!

7PM, Thursday, Nov. 30. RESERVE A SPOT NOW AND ANTE UP FOR TEXAS HOLD 'EM! All the FUN in our next FUNdraiser held at Hollywood Casino in Aurora will benefit Naperville Responds. The 1st Prize is $10,000 OR payment for a seat in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Other prizes are 2nd Prize $2500 Cash; 3rd Prize $1500 Cash and 4th Prize $1000 Cash.

Space is limited to 80 players, $500 Registration Fee (62.5% will be donated to Naperville Responds) see PDF flyer, if you can't attend, or don't gamble, please spread the word to help us raise money to raise another roof in hurricane ravaged Pass Christian. For more information, contact Julie Cole at juliecole@gmail.com or 630-369-9070. Or download the PDF flyer.

This event was a huge success, thanks to host Hollywood Casino and organizers Steve Chirico and Julie Cole. Naperville Responds raised $32,000. Watch for the next Texas Hold 'em coming in the spring.

Week of Oct. 2-6 - Scullen and Crone Middle Schools in School District 204 are again involved in some friendly competition to help a school impacted by Hurricane Katrina. During the week of October 2, students in each school will compete to see how much money they can raise.

At 4:30PM on Oct. 6, Scullen staff will play Crone staff in a softball game at Frontier Park, located behind Neuqua Valley High School's Gold Campus. Concessions will be run by the PTSAs of both middle schools, with all proceeds being donated.

This year, proceeds will directly benefit Pass Christian Middle School, located in Naperville's partner city of Pass Christian, Mississippi.

Once a gulf coast community of approximately 7,500 residents, Pass Christian was virtually obliterated by Katrina. After the hurricane, a group of area residents formed "Naperville Responds," a charitable organization dedicated to helping Pass Christian rebuild.

Last year's challenge raised a total of $18,474.44, which was donated to the Red Cross to assist Katrina survivors.

Results! Faculty members from two Indian Prairie School District 204 middle schools recently squared off in a charity softball game to raise money for a Mississippi school devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Crone Middle School played Scullen Middle School with all proceeds going to Pass Christian Middle School. While Scullen's faculty may have won the game, there were no losers in this charity match.

The schools are donating a total of $17,657.28 to Pass Christian Middle School to help with its rebuilding efforts. The money was raised through donations and concession sales.

During the week of October 2, both schools competed to see which could raise the most money per student to donate. The "losing" principal agreed to donate $100 toward the "winning" school's total. Both principals are contributing to the other school as it was a great week and the students did a terrific job of raising an incredible amount of money for Pass Christian Middle School.

Crone's donation per student came to $6.25 ($7,528.51 divided by 1,204 students). Scullen's donation per student is $6.91 ($9,420.57 divided by 1,363 students).

Thanks, Janet Buglio and all in District 204!

Photos courtesy of Kathy Kosteck, Principal Scullen Middle School

Sun., Oct 1 - Save the Date for World Communion Sunday. Naperville Responds will unite the local faith-based community in a number of fundraising activities. All proceeds will benefit building up to 20 homes in Pass Christian, Miss. In the spirit of the 'House of Blues,' Naperville Responds is going to try to raise the roof and raise some more money for houses during a 'Gospel Brunch' fund-raiser catered by Heaven on Seven. The alcohol-free catered affair will be held at Grace United Methodist Church, located on 300 E. Gartner Road, across from Veterans Park. Among our featured entertainment will be an incredible gospel singing band (Check out: http://www.gospocentric.com/videos/quicktime/new-direction-I-came-to-Jesus.mov.) This band was featured at 'Gospel Fest' in Chicago last year. Also, 'Voices of Praise' from North Central College will be appearing during the brunch, directed by Ben Robinson. This all-community non-denominational family event is open to the public. Tickets to the Heaven on Seven Brunch/Gospel Concert are $25 each. In the meantime, if you want to reserve a table or to help sponsor the event, contact Roxanne Lang at roxannemlang@comcast.net. You can reserve seats by contacting events@heavenonseven.com OR calling 312-224-8858. All the information is posted below on our Gospel Brunch Flier linked below for you to print. This family event will begin at 12:15 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 1, in Fellowship Hall and will be followed by a lively gospel/blues performance in the sanctuary at 1:30 p.m. A second performance (music only) is scheduled at 4 p.m. in the sanctuary. Grace United Methodist Church is located at 300 E. Gartner Road. Both performances will provide an opportunity for a good will offering to benefit Naperville Responds. Click here to download the Gospel Brunch flier.

10AM, Sept. 4 - Gary Baumgartner and all the EDOCers (Exhausted Directors and Officers Club from the Naperville Jaycees) AKA "Last Fling Labor Day Parade Bucket Shakers" raised just over $2,100 for Naperville Responds.

Considering this year's lighter-than-usual crowd that lined the parade route under the threat of rain, Baumgartner expressed appreciation to everyone for shaking the buckets and for donating. "A great effort for the crowd we had! Thanks again for helping raise funds for Naperville Responds!"

Now through July 31 - Order your Recipes for Relief Cookbook at the special pre-delivery price of just $15! This one-of-a-kind cookbook is a compilation of special recipes in 13 categories from the parishioners of Naperville’s own St. Thomas the Apostle and St. Elizabeth Seton parishes, as well as from St. Thomas the Apostle in Long Beach, Mississippi – with all proceeds from the book going toward rebuilding efforts for our friends at that sister parish. Over 650 mouth-watering recipes have come from current and former parishioners as well as celebrities and some special invited guests! Recipes for Relief not only supports a good cause, but will be a unique addition to your cookbook library!

Delivery of the cookbooks is expected by late summer, so whether you are looking for a wedding or shower gift, birthday present, or want to get a head start on Christmas shopping, this is your perfect opportunity! Remember, $15 is the pre-delivery price, so act now and save!

To order Recipes for Relief, please send a check for $15 made out to St. Thomas Bread of Life (memo section: Cookbook) to:

St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church
Attn.: Outreach Office
1500 Brookdale Road
Naperville, IL 60563

Include with your check your name, address, and phone number or e-mail address.

Questions about Recipes for Relief may be directed to Brad Tangeman, Cookbook Chair for Katrina Relief: 630-983-8289 or bigbradley@aol.com. Click here to download flyer/order form.

7PM, Tues., Aug. 22 - The Macom Corporation introduces "Rotary Presents Connie Payton: Another Avenue of Giving," a new speaker series hosted by the Rotary Club of Naperville in Pfeiffer Hall on the campus of North Central College. The evening will feature a book signing and presentation by Connie Payton, who with her children Jarrett Payton and Brittney Payton, has written a memoir of Walter Payton, titled "Payton." Other special guests from the Chicago Bears will be announced as the event nears.

8:15PM, Tues., Aug. 22 - Special Tent Reception. A collection of Walter Payton photos never-before-seen by the public will be exhibited during a special tent reception for Connie Payton and her children held on private property adjacent to Pfeiffer Hall. Tickets with priority seating at the 7PM presentation and a place at the private reception with the Payton family are $115 each. The private reception for 200 guests includes an hors d'oeuvres buffet, wine and a signed copy of the book "Payton." For reservations, e-mail rotarypresents@sbcglobal.net.

Proceeds will benefit Naperville Responds, a local domestic Partner City initiative to help build 20 homes in Pass Christian, Miss.; The Walter and Connie Payton Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the emotional healing of abused, neglected and underprivileged children; and other Rotary Community Service Grants.

Ticket Information - For information about general seating tickets ($10, $15 and $34), wine reception, sponsorships ($50 to $1,500) or group rates, e-mail rotarypresents@sbcglobal.net. Beginning July 1, 2006 general admission tickets will be available at the Pfeiffer Hall Box Office, 637-7469. Pfeiffer Hall is located at 310 E. Benton Ave., on the campus of North Central College.

Aug. 19, 2006 Scheduled events in Pass Christian will celebrate the occupancy of the first three new homes built by the Naperville Responds Partner City Initiative.

Noon, Aug. 19 - Mennonites Ceremony with Volunteers

Quilt Presentation
Bible Presentation
Prayer of Dedication
Keys to the House Ceremony.
Light Luncheon will be served.
Open House throughout the afternoon.

6-11PM, Aug. 19 - Rotary Club of Pass Christian
$5,000 DRAWDOWN Fundraiser at the Harrison County Civic Center
Tickets are $50 for four dinner reservations - Open Bar, Music, Raffles and More
Attire: "Coast Casual" (Long Pants/Sport Shirt for Men - Pants Suits/Dress for Women

Bill Brestal, who co-founded Naperville Responds with Ron Wehrli, negotiates sharing the pot with folks from Pass Christian during the Rotary Club of Pass Christian $5,000 Draw Down Fundraiser at the Harrison County Civic Center on Aug. 19. In the end, Brestal raised another $2,000 for Naperville Responds! Photographers pictured are from the Naperville Sun and the Daily Herald. Both local papers sent a reporter and photographer to cover the dedication of the first three Naperville Responds houses that weekend.

Sun., June 25 - Rev. Terry Hilliard, Pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Pass Christian, Mississippi visited Grace United Methodist Church in Naperville. Rev. Hilliard’s church and parsonage were flooded during the destruction of Pass Christian by Hurricane Katrina last summer.

Rev. Hilliard was a major force in helping the recovery process as the Coordinator of UMCOR relief efforts along the western Mississippi coast. Her church has hosted about 500 volunteer workers, including the Naperville United Methodist reconstruction team, to help restore damaged homes in the Pass Christian area.

Rev. Hilliard spoke at each of the three worship services on June 25. The Katrina relief program of Grace Church and the Naperville United Methodist reconstruction team also were recognized when Rev. Hilliard’s described the Katrina storm and its aftermath.

Grace United Methodist Church is located at 300 E. Gartner Road. For more information on Grace's work in rebuilding the Gulf Coast, contact Rev. Lisa Telomen at 630-355-1748 or visit www.peopleofgrace.org.

4:30PM, Sun., May 21 - Heaven on Seven of downtown Naperville will present "Feed Me, Jimmy" to benefit Naperville Responds in the showroom at Continental Acura, 2275 Aurora Ave. After the cocktail hour (cash bar), dinner is planned to begin at 5:30PM. Chef Jimmy Bannos and his staff will be on hand to serve a fabulous 5-course menu. Reservations for this event with live music by Steven Rohback and other surprise guests are $100 each by calling (312) 224-8858. Credit cards are accepted. $60 from each ticket benefits Naperville Responds. Sponsors of the event are Heaven on Seven, Continental Acura, Belgio's, MinuteMan Press and Positively Naperville. Volunteer servers are needed!

To find about other upcoming events hosted by Heaven on Seven to give back to the community it serves, visit www.heavenonseven.com.

7PM-Midnight, Sat., April 8 - Place your bets for Naperville Responds. The Junior Woman's Club will host the 2nd Annual Viva Las Vegas Night Fundraiser to benefit Naperville Responds from 7PM to Midnight, Sat., April 8. The event will be held at the White Eagle Golf Club. Tickets are $85/each or $160/couple; Top Shelf Drink Card will be available for $30. The Junior Woman's Club is partnering with the Naperville Jaycees---the Jaycees will serve as dealers--- with all the proceeds will go toward Naperville Responds. The evening will include charitable gaming, hor d'oeuvres, live entertainment, grand prize raffle packages, and a silent auction. For more info, visit www.napervillejuniors.org

Feb 2, 2006 - During a regular meeting of the Rotary Club of Naperville on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2006, the guest speaker was D.H. Short, President of the Rotary Club of Pass Christian. After Short's Power Point Presentation and commentary regarding the devastation in the Gulf Coast community, members were challenged to match $15,000 from Rotary Charities to benefit Naperville Responds. During a 15-minute live auction along with private donations from members, the service organization raised $34,550. ;Another $2,500 was donated by Rotarian Hossein Jamali to the Rotary Club of Pass Christian Foundation in support of the sewer project. For more information, visit www.napervillerotary.com.

Hometown Holidays 2005 - During the holiday season in downtown Naperville, snowflake ornaments were donated by MinuteMan Press to kick off Naperville Responds' fundraising campaign, raising more than $10,000. Featuring a photo of a Riverwalk covered bridge covered with snow, supporters purchased the ornaments bearing the theme "Bridging Two Communities." The ornaments, $10 each, were hung on the Giving Tree in front of Jimmy's Grill. A big gift package "bank" to collect loose change is still on display in front of Jimmy's Grill to promote the "$10 for 20" campaign. For more information about what MinuteMan Press does in the community, visit www.m2pnaper.com

What a great Thanksgiving 2005 for Naperville Responds! Nick Ryan and Teresa Ryan launched the Naperville Responds campaign with a $25,000 donation from Marquette Properties and Ryan Hill Realty. The angel on the Giving Tree at Jimmy's Grill represented their generous gift.