Come help fill our Thanksgiving Harvest Food and Funds Drive sponsor box

The holidays are coming and one thing is sure – more than a few people will have to loosen their belts a little after enjoying those wonderful holiday meals. There’s Thanksgiving with the traditional turkey dinner, including all the fixings and topped off with pumpkin or apple pie. Then Christmas rolls in with anything from a crown roast, to a ham or even another turkey. Once again the sides are appeasing to taste buds but hard on waste lines, including a wide assortment of festively decorated cookies. But, for some people living among us here in McHenry, there is little variance expected from any other meal during the year.

Some folks will eat what they can afford to eat, as meager as that may be. It is with these neighbors of ours that the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce has launched its First Annual Thanksgiving Harvest Food and Funds Drive. The program kicks off Nov. 1 with proceeds supporting FISH, the McHenry Food Pantry.

Kay Bates, the president of the Chamber, said, “Our goal is to collect 50,000 pounds of non-perishable food items and personal products.”

According to Bates, there are three ways that people can help out, though no one is limited to choosing only one of these.

Sponsor a Thanksgiving Harvest Food and Funds Drive collection box: This works best for someone who has a brick-and-mortar business in the area, such as Performance Unlimited - 5415 Austin Court, Ringwood - which is placing a collection box in their waiting room. Those bringing their cars, SUVs or pickups in for service or repairs are encouraged to bring along some canned goods or other nonperishables. Of course, you’re also welcome to stop by with your non-perishable donations even if you’re not bringing your vehicle in for service (find us here: Map it on Google). There are at least 25 collection boxes at area businesses. The Chamber has more if you would like to put one in your store, office or business, too.
Make a financial donation: As Bates put it, “Monetary donations are gratefully accepted. FISH is a partner with the Northern Illinois Food Bank and is able to make food purchases at extremely low prices. This means that, if you donate $10, your contribution purchases $80 worth of food.” To make a financial donation, you can stop by the Chamber office at 1257 N Green Street in McHenry, or you can donate online by visiting (Click Here).
You can volunteer: Donations will be delivered to FISH at a later date and sorters are needed to unload and organize the donations. Sorting runs from 8 to 10 a.m. at The Chapel, 1809 S Route 31, McHenry. You can call the Chamber office to register at 815-385-4300 or you can register by following this link.

One great thing about helping out is how good it will feel, while you enjoy your holiday meals, knowing you’ve helped others to have holiday meals, too.

Comments

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

Get out to McHenry Music Festival for a good time and music near to home

Some folks here in McHenry will load up the car and head out to Red Rock Amphitheater near Denver to see a show. Some will go to the MSG Sphere near Las Vegas. Some will go to the Bonaroo Festival Concert to see a show. That’s quite a bit of driving and you’d better make sure your vehicle is up to the trip. What happens, however, if something goes wrong – if your vehicle breaks down while driving there or back? What happens if the show is canceled, as happened this year with the Bonaroo Festival? We’re talking about some serious inconvenience, aren’t we? Wherever you go, whether your driving to Colorado, Nevada, Tennessee or anywhere else in this continent, you want to perform your due diligence and make sure the vehicle is up for the trip before you go. And it doesn’t really matter if you’re driving somewhere to see some live music or for any other purpose. A breakdown can be costly and may put you at the mercy of weather conditions or nefarious characters that come across you while y...

Performance Unlimited Blog

Search This Blog