LP_113017

lockportlegend.com NEWS
the Lockport Legend | November 30, 2017 | 11
Publisher’s Cheers to Charity returns to Rock Bottom
Annual event
benefits area food
pantry, Toy Box
Connection
Jason Maholy
Freelance Reporter
Thanksgiving was still
two days away, but visitors
to Rock Bottom Restaurant
and Brewery in Orland Park
might have thought they
were smack dab in the heart
of the holiday season.
Servers and bartenders
clad in the traditional red
and green of Christmas;
Rudolph the Prairie Red on
tap and being served in souvenir
glasses adorned with
the likeness of the most
famous reindeer of all; and
the Sandburg High School
Chamber Singers wearing
red sweaters and entertaining
diners with Christmas
carols.
Those were the sights at
22nd Century Media’s annual
Cheers to Charity, held
Nov. 21. The event benefited
the Orland Township Food
Pantry and Orland Parkbased
Toy Box Connection.
Publisher 22nd Century
partnered with Rock Bottom
several years ago to hold the
event for the benefit of the
two local charitable groups.
“The organizations that
benefit from this tonight are
local, which drives home
with what we do as a local
newspaper,” said Heather
Warthen, 22nd Century Media’s
chief events officer.
“The Orland Township Food
Pantry helps a lot of people
in this area who may not
have the means to get food,
or maybe at Christmas they
need a little extra boost.
Anything that we can do for
a local organization, we love
to help.”
Garbage can-sized bins for
canned goods and toys were
already filling up 60 minutes
The Sandburg High School Chamber Singers serenade the
crowd at Rock Bottom.
into the four-hour event.
“Usually, by the end of the
night, they’re overflowing,
which is awesome,” Warthen
said. “People are very
giving.”
Customers who brought at
least three canned food items
or a new, unwrapped toy for
the Toy Box Connection received
$5 off their bills that
evening. Rock Bottom also
donated 10 percent of all
food and beverage sales —
and 25 cents of every pint
of Rudolph the Prairie Red
— that evening to the pantry.
The brewery is to, through
Dec. 15, give to the pantry
25 cents for every glass of
Rudolph sold.
The Toy Box Connection
also received a big holiday
boost from Leadz, a networking
organization for
business professionals. The
group announced it will
make a $500 donation to the
Toy Box.
“Obviously, the holiday
spirit, we’re moved by this
and we thought it would be
fitting for us to give a $500
donation to Toy Box Connection
to really help them
out this holiday season,”
Leadz Co-President Mike
Hardek said.
The donation was the organization’s
second this
holiday season, as it already
had pledged another $500 to
a single mother with medical
issues and two young children,
Hardek said.
Bill Paglia, an Orland Rotary
Club board member and
owner of Wild Blue Yonder
Travel Club, donated canned
goods and a new toy, and
was happy to be part of the
evening.
“This is an awesome
place to be to give back
to the community,” Paglia
said. “I’m always looking
for ways to give back
— to the kids, especially.
So, when you see a chance
to give any kind of food
or toys, it’s always a good
thing. So, to me, that was a
no-brainer, and you’ve got
to come out and do that.”
Cheers to Charity for
the first time this year also
incorporated the Military
Mama Network, which collected
cards that will be sent
to soldiers serving overseas.
The Military Mama Network
supports soldiers and
their families by sending
care packages to deployed
troops, providing moral support
and training for families,
and providing informational
and relational support
for the families of veterans
and soldiers.
Meghan Preston, of Orland Park, makes a donation to the Orland Township Food
Pantry Nov. 21 at 22nd Century Media’s annual Cheers to Charity event at Rock Bottom
Restaurant and Brewery in Orland Park. Photos by Laurie Fanelli/22nd Century Media
Frankfort resident Andy Varga (left) orders a drink from Rock Bottom bartender Christina
Nykiel during the event.