Best Western Clock Tower Resort plays major role in event

From press release

The Children’s Holiday Shoppe returns to support MotherHouse Crisis Nursery of Children’s Home + Aid after the State of Illinois’ doomsday budget was passed. Thanks to the Best Western Clock Tower Resort, 7801 E. State St., and a group of dedicated volunteers, the event, which had been canceled, is now back with many new items and gift ideas for children to purchase for their parents, siblings and friends. Beginning Saturday, Nov. 28 and running every weekend from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. through Dec. 20, the Holiday Shoppe will give children an opportunity to shop for Christmas without their parents being present.

Parents prepare the shopping lists and give the children a dollar amount to spend. Items are affordably priced from $1 to $5. Volunteers escort the children and help them pick items for individuals on the children’s lists to ensure they stay within budget. The children wrap, tag and pay for their gifts. The children then return to their parents with bundles of surprises.

This event would not happen were it not for Clock Tower Resort’s participation and willingness to provide ‘free’ store space for us,

said Robin Carlson-Gothe, MotherHouse Crisis Nursery supervisor. She continued,
This is the perfect location for this type of event, and the staff at Clock Tower are so easy to work with.

The William Miller Trust of AMCORE Bank is also stepping up to help MotherHouse, and has offered a 1:2 challenge grant. The Trust will support MotherHouse with a $5,000 donation if Children’s Home + Aid can raise an additional $10,000 for the Crisis Nursery. The revenue raised from the Children’s Holiday Shoppe will be applied toward the match.

Children’s Home + Aid is a leading child and family service agency in Illinois. Each year, it protects, educates and counsels more than 40,000 children, youth and families to improve their lives. Since 1883, Children’s Home + Aid has been a compassionate advocate helping to shape public policy in child welfare, early childhood and juvenile justice. Children’s Home + Aid is recognized for establishing best practices and achieving outstanding results through its programs and services that focus on child abuse prevention, healthy child development and strengthening families.

With headquarters in Rockford, the Northern Region of Children’s Home + Aid is devoted to serving the area’s most challenged communities. The Northern Region of Children’s Home + Aid provides services in many of the counties in northern Illinois, including DeKalb. Services encompass the needs of the entire family, and include adoption preservation, child and family counseling, MotherHouse Crisis Nursery, Pregnancy and Early Parent Counseling, Healthy Families Illinois, foster care, and family support services. Children’s Home + Aid’s comprehensive, quality programs help children and families overcome the obstacles of poverty, abuse and neglect to achieve self-sufficiency.

For more information about Children’s Home + Aid, visit www.childrenshomeandaid.org ^[1].

From the November 25-December 1, 2009 issue