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mokenamessenger.com News
the Mokena Messenger | September 15, 2016 | 11
Tinley girls raise funds
for My Joyful Heart
through garage sale
Amanda Jarzynski, Editor
A pair of Tinley Park sisters,
Hannah and Allie Johnston,
and Sarah and Elaine
Andrews, recently completed
a two-day fundraiser for Mokena-based
charity, My Joyful
Heart.
Inspired by Disney’s
Friends for Change project,
the four girls — ages ranging
from 10-13 years old
— decided they wanted to
do something generous for a
local charity. Their idea was
to organize a garage sale at
one of their homes. As a result,
they raised over $2,000
in just two days, all of which
directly benefited My Joyful
Heart.
“We had an ad in an online
newspaper,” said Allie
Johnston. “We got the items
donated to us. It was a lot of
fun.”
Along with the donated
items, Allie said that Elaine
Andrews along with a few
other people baked pastries
to sell at the garage sale.
Lastly, the girls had a raffle
prize. They sold the tickets
for $1 each with the prize
of a $50 gift card to a local
restaurant and tickets to see
a movie. The girls said that
over 100 tickets were sold
during their garage sale.
To push them to their final
total, the girls said that a family
member heard about why
the group was organizing a
garage sale, so they took it
upon themselves to donate almost
$500.
After school on Sept. 7, the
girls delivered their earnings
to My Joyful Heart. Executive
Director, Diane Carroll
was more than thrilled to
learn how well the girls had
done in their fundraiser.
“I love kids helping kids,”
she said. “The money raised
will finish our budget to be
able to purchase enough
socks, underwear and uniform
clothes for our new students
this year.”
My Joyful Heart is headed
into their busy season where
all of their expenses will be
made. The $2,000 donation
from the Johnston and Andrews
sisters is much appreciated
and will go along way
to help the children of My
Joyful Heart.
Tinley Park natives (left to right) Allie Johnston, Hannah
Johnston and Sarah Andrews (Not pictured: Elaine
Andrews) deliver their donation of over $2,000 to My Joyful
Heart Executive Director Diane Carroll on Sept. 7. Amanda
Jarzynski/22nd Century Media
D210
From Page 4
website, along with the tentative
budget.
The district’s Education
Fund and Operations and
Maintenance Fund are set
to start off the fiscal year
at negative fund balances
of approximately $3.7 million
and $4.8 million, respectively,
to reflect the
district’s outstanding $20
million in tax anticipation
warrants and $6 million in
loans payable/receivable.
Also in the budget, the
district moved $870,000 in
services provided to other
districts from the O&M
Fund to the Transportation
Fund, and the Transportation
Fund includes a $1.8
million interfund loan from
the Working Cash Fund to
the Transportation Fund, as
well as repayment of the
loan.
Public Comments
New Lenox resident Steve
Wahlert asked the board a
few questions about the process
by which the budget
was prepared, referencing
the Illinois State Board of
Education’s “Mechanics of
a School District Budget”
guide.
He said that while the district’s
process this year is a
“better effort than what got
us into trouble,” he wanted
to be sure the district would
follow State law regarding
amendments and revisions
to the budget.
According to the ISBE
document, a school district
can amend its budget by
following the same process
for the budget’s original
approval: post notice of a
budget hearing and where
the budget can be viewed
for public inspection; hold
a public hearing on the
amended budget; adopt the
amended budget at a public
meeting following the public
hearing; and submit the
amended budget electronically
to ISBE within 30 days
of adoption.
Wahlert said he asked
an ISBE representative
whether State law would
allow spending 10 percent
over budget. According to
the “Mechanics of a School
District Budget” guide, if a
change in the budget in the
amount of less than 10 percent
could be made by transferring
funds between line
items, this is allowed. However,
if a change results in
increased estimated total expenditures,
a formal amendment
is needed.
Wahlert said he was also
told the district could submit
an amended budget until
May, if needed. Tingley said
he expects that at some point
in the 2017 fiscal year, the
district will need to submit
an amended budget.
“When you’re looking at
a budget this large with as
many changing factors as we
have, there is a possibility
that adjustments will need to
be made based on the timing
of state funding and tax distributions,”
Tingley said. “In
terms of expenditures, these
are certainly estimates based
on estimates of the past, but
at the same time we’re operating
three high schools
which we haven’t for several
years.”
He added that this year,
with a new business team
in place, the district has put
more time and effort into
this budget.
Board Member Christopher
Lucchetti added that
this year, the board set up
contingency accounts for its
education and transportation
funds, and Wahlert said he
thought that was an important
step forward.
Tinley Park resident Robert
Ripp also asked the board
a few questions about the
budget, including what the
district’s financial profile
score would be if the FY
17 budget went according
to plan. Tingley said he was
not sure.
Ripp also noted that one of
the district’s board goals is
to develop a five-year financial
forecast, and he asked
whether this had been done.
Tingley said this was done
as part of last year’s PMA
Financial Network presentation,
though it had not been
broken down activity by activity.
Finance and Building
Committee
Following the budget
hearing, the regular meeting
of the district’s Finance and
Building Committee was
held.
The committee discussed
an overall decrease in utilities
and maintenance spending
in August, as well an
asphalt and roof evaluation
for Lincoln-Way Central and
Lincoln-Way East.
Tingley said the estimate
for the asphalt evaluation is
estimated at approximately
$8,000, and the roof evaluation
is estimated at approximately
$16,000. The
estimates are from DLA Architects.
The committee briefly discussed
the merits of using
DLA or another firm, and
Tingley explained that to
negotiate prices, the district
has to use its architect. To
go with another company, it
would first have to select the
company and then be able to
evaluate prices.
The item is expected to be
brought before the School
Board at its next regular
meeting, which is scheduled
to take place at 7 p.m. Thursday,
Sept. 22, at Lincoln-
Way Central.
Editor Rebecca Susmarski
contributed to this report.
WANTED: Vendors
Our Active Aging Expo will be 9am - 2pm Saturday,
October 22, at the Tinley Park Convention Center
18451 Convention Center Drive, Tinley Park
Vendors are needed to offer seniors and baby boomers
everything they need to know about health and wellness,
fitness, financial planning, shopping and entertainment,
assisted living, real estate, travel and more.
For more information, call
(708) 326-9170 or visit
www.22ndcenturymedia.com/events.
EVENTS
Deadline: March 4, 2015
Deadline: October 5th, 2016