Community Pulse: You can be part of the quality of life in Grundy County

With the wild ride November 2024 election behind us, it may feel like we’re getting a break from elections, but the local elections this spring have so much more of an impact on your daily life and tax bill. If you haven’t yet, please register to vote. Then be sure to research the candidates and referendums, then vote in the primary on February 25th (if you have one) and April 1st for the consolidated.

Spring elections are where we vote for municipal and school officials as well as (sometimes) referendums. Please follow the Grundy County Clerk’s website for election information: https://www.grundycountyil.gov/services/elections/.

You will always hear me preach that, in addition to voting, there are a number of ways that you can contribute to the quality of life in our county.

If you haven’t yet, please look at http://www.VolunteerGrundy.com, a robust online volunteer portal. Nonprofits can list their volunteer needs, whether once or ongoing, and residents, employees, and youth can sign up for those volunteer slots. Residents wanting to volunteer but not sure where can fill out a profile outlining what you are willing and not willing to do. For example, if you’ve spent a career as an accountant but want to do something different, bookkeeping for a nonprofit is a “no, thank you.”

If you are a teen needing community service hours for school, please look at VolunteerGrundy.com. If you are a nonprofit who allows teens under age 18 to volunteer, please log in and list those opportunities.

We also want more nonprofits to list group volunteer needs so that area corporations can come volunteer as a group on their annual day of service.

By volunteering with a nonprofit that you care about, you are taking the steps to design the type of community you want to live in. Your volunteer hours assure that the nonprofits you care about continue to exist and serve Grundy County.

No time to volunteer? Please donate. Every nonprofit across Grundy County will accept your gift of cash. Some of us also accept stock and other non-cash assets. Most of us have online donation portals, or you can mail a check. Regardless of which causes you believe are most important, by supporting those nonprofits with your donations, you assure that those nonprofits continue to exist and that they have the funding to work on the issue(s) you care about.

If you want to more with your donations and charitable planning, please call us to learn more about donor-designed funds and the brand-new Illinois Gives Tax Credit Program. By donating to an endowment at CFGC to support your favorite local charity, you can get a 25% State of Illinois tax credit! If you are age 70-1/2 or older, you can make Qualified Charitable Distributions from your IRA to charity. Let us teach you how!

No assets to donate? Donate blood. The American Red Cross has blood drives coming up soon: February 26th at First United Methodist Church in Morris; February 28th at Towneplace Suites in Minooka; and March 15th at the Morris Moose Lodge. Register at redcrossblood.org

Blood make you queasy? Donate gently used household items. Animal shelters like blankets. Hands of Dignity and Hope helps PADS clients furnish their first apartments. St. Vincent DePaul, Goodwill, and New Beginnings in Morris all accept clothing and household items. AmVets next to Dairy Queen also accepts old clothing and sends it to a fabric recycling center.

Want a buddy system? Join 100+ Women Who Care of Grundy County. Each quarter, over 40 women gather, pitch in $100, and over the span of just one hour, select one charity to receive that day’s kitty. Can’t afford $100 on your own? Come with 1 or 3 friends and split it – whether $50 each or $25 each.

It’s such a joy to watch this team of women buddy up to grant around $5,000 to one charity in one day! Our next gathering is Tuesday, January 14th, at noon at Maria’s. Lunch is $15 each if you choose to order one. Please RSVP right away to devan@cfgrundycounty.com.

Throughout my 21 years at CFGC, it is obvious that Grundy County has to take care of our own – the state and federal funding just isn’t coming in like it used to. Therefore we all need you to give and do what you can, with what you have, where you are – and remember to #GiveGrundy!

Julianne Buck is the Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Grundy County, located in the historic Coleman Hardware Building at 520 W. Illinois Avenue in Morris. Their phone is 815-216-1025 and her email is julie@cfgrundycounty.com.