Challenging Times

Challenging. Our times are always challenging. Sometimes the challenges are easily swept away, but not today.

As we all go about our daily activities trying to keep ourselves and our families safe, there are many others out there that will not have their minimal needs fulfilled. Several noteworthy agencies in our county are being overburdened with more demands than their staffs can accommodate.

In normal times, human service agencies are going hand to mouth as far as accomplishing their goals go. With the pandemic controlling our lives now, these worthwhile agencies cannot follow their mission statements without additional help. No one wants to go to bed hungry. No one wants to be looking for shelter as the sun goes down. Several of us need our mental health and addiction issues managed. Several of our established county agencies like Big Brother Big Sister, Turning Point, Main Stay Therapeutic Riding, TLS Veterans, VAC, CASA, Girls on the Run of Northwest Illinois, Kiwanis Club are doing a great job of helping our at risk and challenged families. The Raue Center for the Arts does a wonderful job of entertaining and educating us and our youth.

In an effort to raise funds for these fantastic agencies, we started three 5K's. They are the Bob Blazier Raue Run, the McHenry County Santa Run and the McHenry County Patriot Run. These run/walks are family focused and reflect celebrations of life.

Combined, these 5K's have raised over $800,000 year to date. We should be at a million raised for the agencies by 2023.

As the seconds tick by on our clocks, the needs for funding for these agencies keeps pace. The work load for them does not go away because of our pandemic. They still need our help more than ever. Maybe more.

Please consider donating or sponsoring one of these events. Or if you prefer, donate directly to your favorite agency now. Any relief is welcome to those burdened by challenges out of our control. You can sit on your hands, or you can change lives in a positive way. Your call. If you want to be a part of our race to a million, please call 815-459-1773 or email [email protected]

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