Spotlights

In its inaugural year, the One Hope United Holiday Wish Book was a wonderful success, raising over $39,000! These funds will be used to purchase art supplies for classrooms, bedding for children in foster care, educational toys and counseling services.

Here’s How We Did:

• There were 327 individuals who donated! For many, this was the first time that they made a monetary donation to OHU.
• Corporations, churches, schools, civic organizations, small business owners and individuals all supported the Wish Book.
• Corporations that donated included: Baxter, Cardinal Health, ECI, Medline, Mintel and Rust-Oleum.
• Churches that donated included: Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Lake Villa, First Baptist Church of Belvidere and Lindenhurst Church of God.
• Grayslake North High School, the Mid-America Club in Chicago, Superior Window Company in Centralia and William Beck Auction & Realty in Edinburg all donated to the Wish Book.
• The civic organizations that supported OHU included Kiwanis Club of Lindenhurst-Lakes Area and the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 703.
• Prince of Peace Catholic Church contributed almost 40% of all money donated to the Wish Book campaign state wide. They were the largest and most engaged donor!

Words From Our Donors:

We were unsure if our parishioners would embrace the Wish Book, as they have an over twenty year tradition of donating gifts to One Hope United at Christmas. But they generously donated through the Wish Book and were excited to know that their monetary gifts would purchase things the children really needed.

Prince of Peace Catholic Church, Lake Villa

Though our employees love the opportunity to shop for toys during the holidays, we are aware that the bare essentials are not being met for many organizations such as One Hope United due to Illinois funding shortfalls. So our help is more critical and more impactful than ever this year!

Adiat Baker, Mintel Group Ltd.

One Hope United takes children under their wings to keep them safe and change the trajectory of their lives. I give to One Hope United because it fulfills a huge need in our society.

Joanne Celba

We at First Baptist have supported One Hope United for many years and we were happy to continue that support through the Wish Book this past Christmas. It is wonderful to know that we can help make real changes in the lives of these children and their families.

Pastor David Love and the congregation of First Baptist Church in Belvidere, IL

On Saturday, November 21^st, a group of students enrolled in One Hope United’s Kenwood Youth Leadership Academy attended a field trip to Rio’s d’Sudamerica, a Peruvian restaurant in the Chicago Bucktown neighborhood owned by Dino Perez. Perez and his daughter spoke to the students about their professional and academic experiences, respectively, and offered suggestions on how to build a career in hospitality.

The young ladies took a tour of the restaurant and learned several skills ranging from customer interaction and hostessing to décor and setup. The evening concluded with a delicious dinner. Many thanks to the Perez family and Rio’s d’Sudamerica for hosting such a fantastic evening!