Jacksonville Sunrise Rotary Club selling handmade holiday wreaths:
The Jacksonville Sunrise Rotary Club announces a new seasonal fundraiser. Club members will be selling handmade holiday wreaths through November 24, for delivery the first week of December.
Each wreath will be pre-decorated with three (3) pinecones and a red bow. Each unique wreath will be assembled with a mix of cedar, boxwood, yew, pine and spruce. There are three different sizes to choose from: 10-inch base wreaths for $30 each, 16-inch base wreaths for $40 each, and jumbo 36-inch base wreaths for $75 each.
“This is our way of relieving some of your holiday decorating stress, with one easy order, while donating to a worthy cause” said Jane Becker, the fundraiser coordinator. “And maybe best of all, friendly Sunrise Rotary Club members will deliver the one-of-a kind Christmas wreaths to your front door.”
Orders may be placed through any member of Jacksonville Sunrise Rotary Club, or by calling either Jane Becker at 217 371-7784 or Jay Jamison at 217-243-7550.
SYPG Foundation’s ‘The Nutcracker’ on December 7 & 8:
The Springfield Youth Performance Group Foundation (SYPG), an organization spotlighting young talent from the Springfield area, is excited to announce “The Nutcracker”on December 7 and 8th at Sacred Heart Griffin Auditorium, 1200 West Washington Street, Springfield.
This fast-paced, family friendly adaptation of the holiday classic “The Nutcracker”features dancers from the SYPG Studio Company, Preparatory Company, and local young dancers, including cast members from Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois. According to German tradition, nutcrackers were given as keepsakes to bring luck to the family and to protect the home. It is said they represent strength and power while watching over the family. Join in on the magic and excitement as Clara is gifted a nutcracker at a family holiday gathering then through her imagination joins the Nutcracker Prince and travels to many magical lands. Audience members young and old will be entertained with lively dancing and colorful characters in a performance that concludes in just over an hour.
Live shows take place at 2pm and 6pm on December 7 and 2pm on December 8. Tickets are $25 per adult and $15 per child (13 and under) and may be purchased at www.sypgfoundation.org.
All parking is free. Children are invited to participate in free activities and crafts in the Nutcracker’s Workshop 30 minutes prior to the start of each show. A live stream of the 6pm show on December 7 will also be available to purchase at www.sypgfoundation.org.
“The Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois is proud to continue our long-standing partnership with SYPG,” said Tiffany Mathis Posey, CEO & Executive Director of Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois. “Our ballet outreach program with SYPG provides Club kids with mentoring, positive self-image, and early exposure to fine arts training; performing as a cast member in The Nutcracker gives the kids the full theatre experience.”
“We are grateful for our community partners that are helping bring “The Nutcracker”to life,
including: Dr. Ken Sagins, Aasne Daniels, Arica Carter and Clint Sestak. “This year Godfather Drosselmeyer will be played by Paul “Rocki” Nawrocki and our narrator is Rebecca Crowley,” said Elizabeth Cheney, SYPG Artistic Director.
“They are giving selflessly of their time to support the arts in our community and teaching our dancers the importance of giving back.”
“The Nutcracker” is sponsored by Springfield Clinic.
Open House for Memorial Therapy Clinic’s new location:
The public is invited to tour the new location of the Memorial Therapy Clinic in Jacksonville at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital on Thursday, Nov. 14, from 4 to 6 p.m.
“This location will provide additional space for our pediatric and physical therapy services,” said Trevor Huffman, president and CEO of JMH. Tours will be led by the Memorial Therapy Clinic team and Jacksonville colleagues.
Parking is available at the north entrance of Jacksonville Memorial Hospital. Please enter using the Therapy Clinic doors.
Memorial Health Hospitals help raise awareness about faith perspectives on organ donation:
Memorial Health hospitals are hosting information tables throughout November to help raise awareness about faith-based perspectives on organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation.
In the past year, 13 organ donors and 69 tissue donors have donated at Memorial Health hospitals.
“Some potential donors may question their faith’s position on organ and tissue donation when registering as an organ donor,” said Angie Hermes, RN, nurse manager for 3C ICU at Springfield Memorial Hospital. “The focus for Faith and Hope Month is to educate people that every major religion in the United States supports organ donation as an acceptable and commendable expression of compassion and love.”
According to Gift of Hope, more than 100,000 adults and children in the United States, including 5,000 in Illinois and Indiana, are waiting for organ transplants. A single person can save up to eight lives as an organ donor, enhance the lives of more than 25 people through tissue donation and help restore sight for two people.
Information tables and a complimentary green ribbon to encourage others to “Say Yes” to organ, eye and tissue donation will be available at all five hospitals in November:
- JMH: Cafeteria
People interested in learning more about organ, eye and tissue donation can also go online to: https://giftofhope.org/join-the-registry/, https://saving-sight.org and https://www.eversightvision.org/.
The Jacksonville, IL Salvation Army Food Pantry is seeking community support to keep food on the shelves of its Client Choice Food Pantry:
Urgent financial and in-kind donations are needed to continue meeting the nutritional needs of our most vulnerable neighbors.
The Salvation Army has been serving in Jacksonville since 1887. One of the main services during the last 137 years has been feeding the hungry. Whether it is through its free lunch program, Food Pantry or holiday food distributions, meeting the nutritional needs of our most at risk neighbors has been of vital importance to The Salvation Army.
Last year, we provided 800,000 pounds of food through our Client Choice food pantry serving 15% of all Morgan County residents. We are committed to continue to lead the fight against hunger in Morgan County. Last month, over 1,200 people shopped our pantry and we expect those numbers to increase as we get closer to the holidays.
We are in desperate times. While donations to nonprofits are down nationally, we have been hit especially hard over the last two years. The increased costs that are hitting everyone (especially at the grocery store) are hitting us as well. Our food pantry is currently $56,000 over budget and we have exhausted all funding serving our neighbors in need who are coming to in greater number than ever before not only through the food pantry but the dozen or more programs The Salvation Army provides in Jacksonville.
Just three years ago, we were serving 50-60 families a week; now we have that many or more coming in a day.
Due to the increase in pantry clients and decrease in donations at this time, we are lucky if our pantry is 25% stocked. It is literally a day-to-day struggle to keep food on the shelves. Some food items that have always been available for our clients to shop from are no longer guaranteed to be available. We’ll get in pallets of things like meat and dairy and dry goods in the morning and it will be gone before the pantry closes that same day even with us putting strict limits on the number people can take. We are just having so many people coming to us. With the cost of living (especially groceries) continuing to increase we are seeing people daily who have never had to ask for help before.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we are hoping to make sure everyone is fed. We are hoping that by reaching out to our generous community we will be able to get enough donations for the Thanksgiving season and beyond.
No donation is too small, it could be two cans of green beans, a case or a truck load. We accept all food donations.
Our client choice food pantry located at 1124 Wall St. in Jacksonville is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-Noon.
We also work with clients who go to work or school in the mornings allowing them to make an appointment for later in the day. Due to the vast number of people coming to the pantry in the mornings we have also opened up afternoon appointments to seniors 65+. Eligibility for the Food Bank is based on guidelines set by the USDA.
We work very hard to “do the most good” with every dollar we are donated. This means putting in the effort to acquire bulk food at pennies on the dollar (on average 1/10th retail pricing) and traveling out of county to receive large quantities of free and greatly reduced food. We never buy food retail. We have to make every dollar stretch because we also provide a free lunch program, housing and utility assistance, winter shelter for the Homeless, clothing and personal care assistance, back-to-school and Christmas assistance for children, pathway of Hope, youth programs, holiday assistance, back to work programs and more. The Salvation Army also picks up food donations daily at our local grocery stores. This is how we are able to provide the community with more food to more people at the best cost per donation dollar possible.
Fifty-four percent of our food clients are senior citizens with limited budgets and almost no governmental food assistance available. One of the questions we ask clients is if they receive SNAP benefits. Unfortunately, We hear on a regular basis from our Senior clients “yes, but I only receive $19 a month.” We also hear how “thankful they are” How “the Pantry is a life saver” Those that need additional help have told our Social workers that it is only because of the help they receive from the pantry that they can afford to get by and afford their medication.
How to help:
The Salvation Army’s pantry needs any and every kind of non-perishable food item, including canned goods, cereal, dry goods, pasta, rice, and more. Personal hygiene products are also needed. Donations can be dropped off Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
As we enter the holiday season — a time of giving and community reflection — we urge you to consider the power of a cash donation. Donations give us the flexibility to fill food supply gaps. They empower us to do more and to help more families. Monetary donations allow us to purchase as much as ten times as much food then paying retail.
We want to thank the community for their continued support. It is only because of caring community members who support our work that we are able to serve so many who have no where else to turn.
Donations can be dropped of at The Salvation Army at 1124 Wall St., Jacksonville, IL 62650 Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mail donations to P.O. Box 220, Jacksonville, IL 62651 or give online at https://centralusa.salvationarmy.org/midland/jacksonville. For questions, please call 217-245-7124.
