8 | February 15, 2018 | The Homer Horizon HOMER GLEN homerhorizon.com Buying • Selling • ReSidential • CommeRCial Lincoln-Way Realty Family owned business built on Trust! All Plumbing Repairs | Installations Sewer & Drain Hot Water Heaters | Sump/Ejector Pumps FREE ESTIMATES Upfront Flat Rate Pricing! ing! No Hidden Costs! SENIOR AND MILITARY DISCOUNTS Licensed Plumbers Protect the Health of the Nation award winning real estate team Featuring a low $2,500 Flat listing Fee* 708.223.7041 ® $ 25 OFF Any Plumbing Repairs 22CM.NEWS/DRCP LIC#055-043295 $ 50 OFF $ 100 OFF Water Heater Installation Any Sewer Repair *Cooperative Commission and other restrictions may apply. Listing Fee is applicable on primary residence only. Call us at 708.479.6355 to set up a listing appointment www.lincolnwayrealty.com Joseph Siwinski Managing Broker & Owner jsiwinski@lincolnwayrealty.com LennanII Phase II -Now Open Decorated Models areOpen Mon-Thu 10am-4pm | Sat/Sun Noon-4pm | Friday byAppt. Since 1970 Contactthe Sales Center fordetails at 708.479.5111 and visit online anytime at www.cranahomes.com Exit I-80 at La Grange Road south for just under twomiles to La PorteRoad andturn east for one-half mile to Brookside Meadows. OPPORTUNITY
homerhorizon.com NEWS the Homer Horizon | February 15, 2018 | 9 Homer businesswoman, her husband donate backpacks of items to needy Jacquelyn Schlabach Assistant Editor Michelle and Ed Kerfin are no strangers to helping those in need. Last year, they started two micro pantries in Lockport that are stocked with an assortment of foods that anyone can take for free, no matter what time of day it is. They’re located on 9th and State streets and in front of Whizzy Puffs Sweet Spot on MacGregor Road. This year, they’ve started an initiative called Backpacks for the Homeless in collaboration with the Lockport Police Department. On Wednesday, Feb. 7, Ed Kerfin delivered 25 drawstring backpacks to the Lockport Police Department, giving each officer one backpack to have in their squad car in case they come across someone in need. The backpacks are filled with hats, socks, gloves, water, Gatorade, personal hygiene items and snacks. “The big thing is helping the police department help the people they’re dealing with. The folks they come across are usually at their worst — the worst time in their life or month or who knows what,” Ed said. “That little extra help goes a long way.” Ed said he will call the police department every week or two to see if they need more backpacks so the squad cars have them. “They’re the people who might find the guy that happens to be under the bridge that day,” Michelle, who is a State Farm insurance agent in Homer Glen, said. Lockport Police Chief Terry Lemming said the officers were excited to be involved in Backpacks for the Homeless. “Lockport’s a really, really nice town, but sometimes people are silently suffering financially, and we run into people like that frequently, so those are the ones we want to help,” Lemming said. Michelle (left) and Ed Kerfin, of Lockport, bring a tub of bags filled with candy, personal items, food and more to the Lockport Police Department to donate. Michelle is a State Farm insurance agent in Homer Glen. Mary Compton/22nd Century MediA. Lemming said the police department will continue to be involved in the initiative no matter how they can fund it. “It’s not just for the homeless, it could be anybody — someone that just got put out of their house, or whatever the reason may be, or somebody that just doesn’t have any money and needs food and the police happen to be there and give them one of these backpacks to help get through the night,” Ed said. The Kerfins got the inspiration for the initiative from Michelle’s cousin, who makes the wooded micro pantries that her and Ed take care of. He offered to help Michelle and Ed get started and gave them the first 25 bags. Michelle’s cousin does this on his own time, as well, and the Kerfins have followed suit and have kept backpacks in their cars for the past couple years. “There was a family standing outside the Costco in Orland Park, and they were standing there; there was a little boy, a baby in a stroller and a mom and dad with a sign,” Michelle said. “I pulled up, and I gave them the male and female bag, and they wanted to hug me. The little boy was like, ‘Thank you, thank you,’ and he went immediately into the bag.” The bags are separated by gender, and the items inside cater to either females or males. There’s also enough food inside the backpacks to last a couple of days. The items put inside reflect the weather conditions, and, in the summertime, there are baseball caps, ChapStick and sunscreen. “We’re going to have to get people to help donate the socks, the gloves, the hats, the personal hygiene items,” Ed said. To donate to the initiative, people can drop off items at Michelle’s State Farm office at 14051 S. Bell Road or call the office line at (708) 301- 1800, and Michelle and Ed will pick up any donations, as well. Donations can also be dropped off at Canals and Trails Credit Union, 838 S. State St., Lockport; Whizzy Puff’s Sweet Spot, 110 Mac- Gregor Road, Lockport; or Sizzles, 571 E. 13th St., Lockport. “We’ve always been people who give ever since I opened my office in Homer Glen,” Michelle said. “We’ve tried to give back to the community who’s given to us. My success is because of the community.” The goal for Backpacks for the Homeless is that it will be here to stay and will help people in immediate need. “How many things can you do that you can say by doing this you’ll have an immediate impact, positive impact on someone’s life?,” Ed said. “That’s the micro pantries, and hopefully, too, with these backpacks.” Butler School students pitch product inventions to families Submitted by Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C Creativity and ingenuity were on full display Jan. 26 as Butler School fourthgrade Discovery students pitched their inventions to friends and family. “Sit back and relax,” one student told a captive audience as she introduced them to her Personal Pet Petter. “No batteries needed.” Students in Michelle Schultz’s Discovery Class were challenged to invent a product, build a prototype and write an audio ad promoting it. They completed their month-long project on Jan. 26, when they presented their inventions to friends and family at an Invention Convention. Their sales pitches resembled infomercials, promising a buy-one-get-one-free deal if they ordered now. Products included a Touchless Duster, a Desk Extender and a Tissue Tote. The inventor of the hands-free dog brusher even offered proof that her contraption works by showing prospective buyers a video of her own dog walking through the contraption of PVC pipe and brushes. Butler School fourth-grader Lauren Bacys explains how her hands-free dog brusher, Personal Pet Petter, works. Butler School fourth-graders Ryan Pochol (left) and Liam Rusniak (right) pitch their inventions to friends and family on Jan. 26. Photos submitted
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