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the glencoe anchor | December 6, 2018 | 3
Glencoe Community Holiday Drive runs through Dec. 11
Alexa Burnell
Freelance Reporter
The holiday season has
settled upon the North
Shore and many residents
are starting to think about
helping the less fortunate.
While there are certainly
many worthy causes to
choose from, Glencoe’s
Margot Flanagin and Colleen
Harlow are asking
folks to consider their
neighbors in need by supporting
the annual Glencoe
Community Holiday
Drive running from Nov.
23-Dec. 11.
The drive was started
nearly 25 years ago by
public official Betsy Seno,
who first recognized the
need to help those who had
fallen on hard times, right
in the neighborhood. Soon
after, Village employee
Katie Sweeney, jumped
on board and then, five
years ago, residents, such
as Flanagin and Harlow,
joined the cause, making
the drive a full-fledged
community initiative.
“We began working with
New Trier Township and
Glencoe Family Services
to identify families right
here in Glencoe who were
struggling and in need of
assistance,” Flanagin said.
To her surprise, Flanagin
learned that 24 families
in Glencoe, with 29 children
in total, who qualified
for services. Flanagin
worked closely with New
Trier Township’s Brian
Leverenz and Jeanne Winstead
Rosser, learning that
hardships can hit anyone,
even in the comfort and
safety of the North Shore.
The most common reasons
families find themselves
in distress fall under what
Leverenz calls the eight
D’s: deficiency in resources,
displacement, disability
and disease, drugs and
alcohol, divorce, death,
desertion, and domestic
violence.
Armed with this information,
Flanagin, Harlow
and other concerned and
kind-hearted volunteers
began to map out the particulars.
The first facet of
the drive is to collect toys
and groceries for the 24
identified families. Items
needed include new toys,
boxed and canned goods,
staples (cooking oil, sugar,
flour, peanut butter and cereal),
and paper products,
like napkins, toilet paper
and paper towels, to name
a few. Donations can be
dropped off at the Village
Hall or the Takiff Center
during regular business
hours.
“I can tell you from my
personal experience with
this drive that the residents
of Glencoe are very generous
people, so our goal is
to make it as easy as possible
for people to donate.
We are grateful to both
Village Hall and the Takiff
Center for agreeing to yet
again be donation sites,”
Flanagin said.
In addition, organizers
hope to encourage resident
to purchase care packages
at the Grand Food Center
in Glencoe for $20.
These packages include
staple food items and toiletries,
donated to a group
of low income seniors and
adults with disabilities in
a neighboring community.
In addition, children
from the North Suburban
Special Education District
program at Central School
will work with instructors
using supplies generously
donated by the Evanston
Home Depot to create a
craft for this population.
For Harlow, the drive
signifies the importance
of taking care of neighbors
while strengthening
the community at the same
time.
“There is no better way
to bring a community together
than over the desire
to help one another,” Harlow
said. “This drive reminds
all that if hard times
hit, they will not be left
alone. It also reminds us to
be grateful for the good we
have in our own lives.”
“It truly takes a village;
there are so many people
to thank, such as the residents
who donate, the public
works department who
hauls the goods to where
they need to be, the Village
and Park District
who agree to be donation
sites and so many more,”
Flanagin added. “This
drive proves that it really
takes a village, reflecting
the generosity alive in
Glencoe.”
For more information
about the Glencoe Community
Holiday Drive,
email glencoecommunityholidaydrive@gmail.
com. Donations can be
made at one of the above
mentioned locations or
pop into the Grand Food
Center in Glencoe and buy
a care package to brighten
someone else’s day.
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