Giving Back to the Community

Periodically we offer incentives to our customers to encourage the return of library items and assist the community. Through the month of November the library offered a Food For Fines program and accepted donations of non-perishable food items. Customers got an added bonus of not only helping out those less fortunate but also eliminating overdue book fines, which were waived with a canned donation. Thanks to your generosity, to date we have delivered more than 40 boxes of food!

Help a Women's Shelter or Support Our Troops
In December we will accept two different types of donations to assist a women's shelter or to send items to our troops. Donations of sealed, new personal care toiletries such as shampoo, soap, body wash, etc. will be given to families in need at a local shelter. Or you can donate from a more extensive list available at the library and those items will be sent to our soldiers.

Community work and involvement says much about us. Take a moment to give thanks for your blessings in life and then please bring a donation to the library to help us assist others.

Peace Poster Winner!

Congratulations to Kimmy N!

The Peace Poster is an annual Lions International contest. This year the theme is "Celebrate Peace." The library partnered with Lions Club to promote the contest this summer. We are so pleased that Homer Glen resident Kimmy N., a sixth-grader, was selected as the District winner. Her entry will now compete in the State finals and possibly the international finals. Kimmy drew a colorful illustration depicting children of the world united in peace circling a dove. Colorful flags of many nations adorn the poster (pictured at right). We congratulate Kimmy on her wonderful artwork and wish her success at the state and international finals.

Kimmy says, "Peace means happiness around the world, like one big happy family."

Lions Club International is the world's largest service organization. Our Goodings Grove chapter is one of 46,000 Lions Clubs and has done wonderful things for the Homer community. Their motto "We Serve" translates into successful community partnerships and services. The Goodings Grove Lions Chapter sponsors an annual senior harvest fair, eyeglasses for those in need, diabetic awareness day, free vision screenings and hearing examinations, and provides visual disability supplies to local schools. Recently our library was awarded funding from the Lions to purchase large print keyboards for all of the computers in our public internet room. Customers love them!

This is my second year as an officer on the Goodings Grove Lions Club Board. Making connections with community organizations, serving on their boards, and donating time in my community has strengthened the support and increased the visibility of the library. Our missions are surprisingly alike. We, too, serve our community well.

Did You Know? Lions Club is the only service organization in the world that has the distinction of holding a seat with the United Nations.