In Highland Park, the Celebrate Highwood organization has partnered with the Family Services Lake County to feed over 200 families in the community.

In just two days, Celebrate Highwood raised over $4,000 to distribute produce, meat, eggs and fresh masa to households struggling to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BellaRu Catering and Mis Dos Magos provided the food, which was delivered in trucks donated by Windy City Linen and Greco & Sons.
Fill-A-Heart 4 Kids contributed diapers and toiletries to the effort, and Families Helping Families Chicagoland gave out bags of summer toys to help keep kids entertained at home.

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Every year on April 24th, Western Illinois University celebrates their Purple and Gold Day — a day meant to commemorate the university’s creation back in 1899. Instead of the usual celebratory events, this year’s festivities were celebrated a little differently.

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In Decatur, agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is doubling down in the fight against COVID-19. Not only has the company ramped up production of industrial ethyl alcohol—a critical component of hand sanitizer—but they’ve also donated nearly 10,000 bottles of sanitizer to local health and long-term care facilities.

“We’ve seen a huge demand for hand sanitizer on an industrial scale, and we’re appreciative we’ve been able to rely on our longstanding partner ADM to assist by producing a critical component of hand sanitizer - ethyl alcohol,” said Brett Schleder, director of procurement for Sazerac Company, a New Orleans-based beverage company that has begun producing hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 outbreak. “Together, our efforts combined have helped in the battle against the spread of COVID-19 for team members in various industries across the country.”

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Holy Pierogi food truck owner Gandi Falcon has lived in Aurora for 30 years, so he knows the great things his city has to offer. When the coronavirus pandemic broke out, Falcon’s business took a hit, but he knew he had to help the community in any way he could.

“Just like everyone else, our family has been affected by [the coronavirus],” Falcon said. “We realized early on that the need to help one [an]other was going to be critical, so I started thinking on ways we can be of service.”

On March 30, National Doctors’ Day, Falcon served more than 600 free lunches to staff at Aurora’s AMITA Health Mercy Medical Center.

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